Fooling Me
by EclipseKlutz
Summary: [Indefinite hiatus][NS, post Thunder Strangers] When Tori is kidnapped, it's up to the remaining Rangers and a stranger to find her again. However, this stranger has her own agenda. HunterxTori
1. Division I: Kidnapped

Fooling Me 

**Division I: **Kidnapped

By EclipseKlutz 

**Genre: **Romance/Action/Adventure

**Rating: **PG

**Spoilers: **Takes place right after 'Thunder Strangers Part 2'.

**Summery: **After Thunder Strangers Part 2, Tori gets captured. Now its up to Dustin, Shane, Cam, and some new girl to find her before it's too late… the question is: Is that possible? 

**A/N: **I don't know what that one store Dustin and Shane work at is called, so I'm just gonna call it 'Sport Chargers', k?

"If you hurt him, I will hunt you down," Tori threatened the two Thunder Rangers standing before them, giving up on trying to believe they weren't her so-called friends, Blake and Hunter.

Hunter and Blake glanced at each other before throwing Cam forwards. "Leave him," Hunter stated. "We've got what we wanted."

Shane hurriedly pushed Cam behind him as the Thunder Rangers departed in a hefty firework of smoke. 

"Is everyone ok?" Tori inquired as soon as she was certain they were gone. 

Without answering, Cam pushed forwards and made his way hastily over to where Sensei stayed. He silently stood up and pulled off his glasses, still staring at the empty miniature shrine. 

"My father…" he breathed, "They took my father."

Tori felt her friends tense beside her, and brought her gaze to the floor. "I… I'm sorry, Cam… I…how…?"

Shane turned to her and placed a hand gently on her shoulder, "Listen, Tor, it's not your fault."

"Yah it is, Shane. It is…" Tori replied, pushing his hand away. "The old Prince Charming Saves The Day Act and I fell for it… I fell for it."

"Listen to Shane, Tori," Dustin told her, "It's not your fault."

Tori shook her head and hastily ran out of the Ninja Opts, not wanting their sorrow nor any inquires. The only thoughts running through her head were along the lines of: _'I swear I will track you down, Blake, and I swear I will make you pay.'_

"Tori! Wait up!" Shane shouted from behind her, but she ignored him and made her way farther into the woods, coming up with various methods of torture.

As she reached the edge of the woods, Tori stared in disgust at the passenger seat of her sky blue van. _He_ had sat there… _He_ had _pretended_ not to know what had happened as he sat there. In a moment of blind furry, she sent her fist straight through the passenger window.

"Dammit," She muttered, pulling back her fist and staring at it. She shook her head roughly and muttered, "He'll pay… in the meantime though… I need my van detailed…"

**~~*~~**

Moonlight shined down on the waves, making them shimmer as they splashed against her ankles. She sat on the shore as she stared out at the waves. 

The beach was isolated at this point of night, left with Tori as its only occupant. Or so she thought…

At the echo of footsteps padding across the sand behind her, Tori instinctively turned. Her expression grew to one of pure abhorrence as she saw who was standing there. "Where's Sensei? And where's your brother?"  

Hunter paused, "And I would answer either of those questions because…?"

She glared at him, "Why are you here?"

"I'm out for a walk… gees… why are you out at this time anyways?" Hunter replied without missing a beat.

"None of your beeswax," she told him, beginning to get uncomfortable. She was all too aware of the fact that her morpher was in her van about a quarter of a mile away. 

He smirked, "Too bad."

She quickly spun around, only to see kulzaks advancing towards her. Tori was suddenly fairly happy she had worn her Wind Ninja Academy uniform, being as most of her other outfits were tough to fight in.

Quickly ducking as a kulzak threw a punch at her head, she kicked it in the stomach, happy with the result of the kulzak flying backwards.  She managed to flip another one, now trying to inch her way over to her van, but Hunter saw right through that trick.

Finally she saw the overwhelming odds: about fifty-three kulzaks, and one in morph ranger standing around and watching… and guarding the path to her van.

"Shoot," she muttered under her breath as she ducked down and tripped another kulzak. "Shane, Dustin… where are you?"

"They're not coming," Hunter sneered. Unfortunately- Tori knew he was right, because she didn't have her morpher on, they couldn't track, nor find her.

She felt something hard hit the back of her head, and then all went black. 

The kulzaks around disappeared as Hunter made his way over to her, now morphed back to normal. He quickly felt her wrists, and noticing that she wasn't wearing her morpher, smirked. 

He picked her off the ground and carried her to his red car. Hunter dumped her in the backseat before making his way to her van and snatching her morpher. After sticking her morpher in his pocket, he made his way back to his car and climbed in the drivers seat before speeding away…

**~~*~~**

Even though the sun was shining and the weather was beautiful the next morning, Cam, Dustin and Shane were far from happy. Hey hadn't heard from Tori since the night before, and no one was picking up at her house. Even worse was the fact that a few vacationers on the beach had found signs of struggle, blood, and her van. 

Cam was hastily typing stuff into the Ninja Opts main computer, trying his best to find traces of her… or his father. He was also trying to find the location of the crimson and navy Thunder Rangers.

"There!" He shouted finally, and in seconds Shane and Dustin were standing on either side of the computer eager to find out what he found. Cam pointed to the screen, "There's Blake…"

"Thanks, bro!" Dustin congratulated as he quickly followed Shane out of Ninja Opts.

Fifteen minutes later, they were dashing into their favorite sports store, Sports Chargers, and sure enough there stood Blake.

Oblivious to the surrounding people, and without pausing, Shane ran over to the navy Thunder ranger and got a good hold on his neck. "Where's Tori?" Shane demanded.

"Hell if I know," Blake replied, "Your the one's who are supposed to be her friends."

Dustin slapped him hard across the head, "Hell if you live through any encounter you ever have with her again. Now tell me, where is she?"

Kelly quickly made her way over to them, "Whoa. Boys, calm down!"

Shane ignored her, "Where is she, dammit?"

"How would I know?" Blake told him smugly.

Dustin glared at him, "You'd know because you're the one who was stupid enough to use her to get to… You're the reason why she was out last night beating up her van. And you're the reason she got attacked. Now answer our question; where is Tori?" 

Kelly looked back and forth at each of them; "Obviously I missed something, now boys, would you mind being reasonable and calming down? You probably can talk this out."

"That's what we're doing," Shane informed her. "Now where the hell is she?"

"Tori's missing…?" Kelly asked.

Dustin rolled his eyes, "Check the news, Kelly, see if there are any updates. As for you, Blake, what did you do?"

"Um… excuse me, but are you Kelly?" a new voice cut into the conversation. They turned to see a girl with elbow-length blonde hair streaked in purple, pale skin, and hazel eyes dressed in flared-out jeans with random cuts on them, a purple tank top, a black leather jacket and high black boots hidden under her jeans. No one noticed as Blake's eyes widened.

Kelly nodded, "Yes but I'm busy right now, can you come back in a few minutes?"  
  
"I just wanted to know if you sold decent roller blades here… that or surf boards." The girl shrugged, looking around her eyes resting on Shane, Dustin, and Blake. "Actually, I'll get back to you."  
  
The girl easily removed Shane's tight grip on Blake's neck and tossed him aside. She grabbed Blake tightly on his left wrist and dragged him out of the shop, looking thoroughly ticked off.

"Man," Dustin muttered as he helped Shane off the ground. "Who was that girl?"

At that precise moment, Cam dashed into the shop looking terrified, "Dustin, Shane…did you guys see a girl in here? Er… about fifteen, a little shorter than me, blonde hair, brownish eyes?"

"Yah," Shane muttered, dusting himself off. "And she just let Blake get away."

"No, Shane… she didn't- now come on if you want to talk to him while he's still somewhat alive!" Cam urged.

As the group walked out of the shop, Dustin said, "Er… Cam? A little info on this girl-person might be nice." 

Cam glanced at them and sighed, "Her name is Ketsueki, but call her Kit. She's fifteen and is the last remnant of the Tsuki-Mizu Academy of magick and some other form of fighting… she's also my hot-tempered and violent cousin."

"Dammit," her voice rang out as they approached her. Kit turned to face them, still looking angry, "Cam… please tell me that these two brick-heads aren't the Wind Rangers! They don't even know how to torture someone for information right!"

Cam sighed, "Wish I could say they aren't…"

"Hey!" Shane glared daggers at Cam before turning to Kit. "What happened to Blake?"

"Portal," she answered simply, before walking towards a purple convertible with glittery orange flames painted on the front. "Do you guys need a ride back?"

When the three boys nodded, Kit smirked and tossed a set of keys at Shane, "Cool- you're driving."

Shane climbed into the driver seat, and Dustin into the passenger, while Cam took the seat behind drivers next to Ketsueki.

Kit pulled a silver-purple backpack off the floor and pulled a laptop and self-phone out of it, before literally dumping the backpack on Cam. She quickly opened the small computer and typed in a few things and a full Internet connection showed up. She clicked a button hidden in the corner of the screen, and again typed in a few things. She was now smiling happily as she clicked a few more things.

Cam turned to read over her shoulder to find that she was instant messaging people. He read as she typed away in a chat-room labeled 'Wicca World Chatroom 12'.

**Devililusion: **hi'z guys.

**Gingerale34: **oh wonderful, its kit… take cover everyone!

**Devililusion: **I'm gonna take that as a compliment. 

**1Darkone: **what do you want now?

**Trackster: **who you trying to kill nowadays?

**Gingerale34: **nice to hear…

**Devililusion: **shut it, G. Trackster; I need a favor. And D1- I'm out for revenge again

**Trackster: **depends. If it includes chasing a tadpole again I refuse- ended up chasing that thing across the US

**Gingerale34: **don't know how…

**1Darkone: **G was right- we really should take cover :-P

**ScarletSun0** has entered **Wicca World Chatroom12**.

**Trackster: **Hey's SOS.

**Gingerale34: **Isn't hay for horses T?

**Devililusion: **careful, G- your beginning to talk like me

**Gingerale34: **oh no… my worst nightmare…

**ScarletSun0: **freaks as usual. Kit- where are you now?

**Devililusion: **don't know the name of this place

**Trackster: **while its still on my mind, would you mind telling me what ya want, Kit? It's not that easy to figure out

**Gingerale34: **I thought _I_ was the freak in your opinion SOS!

**Devililusion: **T- track down the navy thunder ranger for me. As soon as you have his whereabouts hand them over.

**1Darkone: **you still after him, kit?

**ScarletSun0: **you really shouldn't be surprised D1

**Devililusion: **what's that supposed to mean?

**Scarletsun0: **that you've gone soft

**Devililusion: **should I have T track you down too?

**Trackster: **LOL- sorry, kit- wouldn't track SOS down… yet

**Azure4Flashings **has entered **Wicca World Chatroom12**.

**Gingerale34: **hey

**Trackster: **straw

**Azure4Flashings: **berry….

**1Darkone: **where in seven hells have you been A4??

**Azure4Flashings: **la, la, la, la, la, la, la…

**Devililusion: **you people are pathetic…

**ScarletSun0: **you said I was smart though…

**Gingerale34: **you bet

**1Darkone: **humph…

**Azure4Flashings: **coming from you, kit, that's a fairly big compliment…

**1Darkone: **good point…

**Devililusion: **I pretty much just meant G… and SOS- I only said that once….

**Azure4Flashings: **I'm surprised you said that at all…

**Devililusion: **clam up.

**Trackster: **I hafta log out to track him- call me in an hour kit

**Trackster **has left **Wicca World Chatroom12**

**Gingerale34: **gees- you have strange requests kit…

**ScarletSun0: **your not used to it now?

**1Darkone: **he has a point G

**1Darkone: **damn… g2g- bath…

**Devililusion: **byez

**Gingerale34: **see ya l8er

**1Darkone **has left **Wicca World Chatroom12**

**Devililusion: **I'm going now too guys

**Azure4Flashings: **why?

**ScarletSun0: **your gonna leave us with G?

**Gingerale34: **hey! I'm going to take that as offensive, SOS!

**Devililusion: **normal stuff- tell **3GreenSpringSnakesss **to call me if you see him, k G?

**Gingerale34: **sure…

**Devililusion: **cool

Kit X-ed the screen out as they pulled up to the woods.

"Um… Kit? You sure its safe in there?" Cam asked, pointing at her laptop to make it obvious he was talking about the chatroom.  

Kit nodded, "Cam, I know every member of that sight, and I trust them all. I'll give you the address- you might like it. Everyone on it are computer and magick freaks trying to puzzle out what's happened to the Ninja Academies. 

She stuffed her laptop back into her backpack and jumped out of the convertible. She walked around to the trunk and easily opened the trunk. Kit pulled out three duffle bags and handed one to each of the guys to carry as she slung her backpack over her shoulders.

Shane struggled with the heavy load of the black bag he was carrying as he led the group through the forest. 

**~~*~~**

Tori slowly opened her eyes, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her head. By the dim light from a fire and the cold stonewalls, she figured she was in a cage of some sort. Her wrists were shackled to the wall she was leaning against as she kneeled somewhat on the sandy cave floor.

"Took you long enough to wake up," Hunter told her as he walked into the cave with some logs to fuel the fire. "Would've thought you were dead… if you hadn't been breathing."

Tori shifted around uncomfortably, not happy at all as she remembered what had happened. "Why didn't you just go ahead and kill me?"

"The kulzaks were gonna toss you in the ocean," Hunter said shrugging. "I'm still trying to figure out why I stopped them…"

"Very comforting thoughts," Tori muttered sarcastically. 

"Shut up," Hunter said calmly before holding up her morpher. "Say another word and I'll lure your friend into a trap."

Tori immediately became quiet, now staring wide eyed at her morpher. 

Hunter tapped at it a few times and smirked, "Hello, Wind Rangers."

"Oh, Hunter! So nice to hear from you again!" a female voice came through.

Hunter's eyes narrowed, "What are you doing there, Ketsueki?"

"Okay then. Where in all ten hells are Blake, Sensei, and Tori?! Tell me or I'll hunt you down myself!" Kit shouted, beginning to sound extremely angry.

"But the Wind Rangers on, Kit, if you ever want to see your uncle alive again." Hunter threatened.

Seconds later, Shane's voice rang, "Where's Tori?"

"Nice to see you again too," Hunter said sarcastically. "But this on wide screen, I've got something to show you."

A few clicking sounds could be heard as Cam got out a wide screen, and Kit shouting in the distance, "Imbecile! The red button first unless you want to watch DVDs!" 

"Okay," Shane sneered. 

With a smirk, Hunter turned the morpher towards Tori for a minute. She was staring at the ground; oblivious as to what was going on… she just wanted her friends to be safe.

He smirked again at the looks on their faces, and shut off the morpher. He considered smashing it against the wall, but decided against it, as he may need it for blackmail purposes later. 

Hunter walked over to Tori and unclasped the shackles. Within seconds of having her wrists free, she was dashing for the entrance like Hunter had known she was going to. He grabbed her right wrist roughly and pulled her back as he fished through his stuff and pulled out a rope. 

She glared sharper things than daggers at him as he tied her wrists together and walked her out of the cave…

***~~~**

Okay, what do you think? 

Five reviews in order to continue. 


	2. Division II: No Odds

**Fooling Me**  
**Division II: No Odds**

By EclipseKlutz

**Genre: **Romance/Action/Adventure****

**Rating: **PG 

(May change to PG-13 later because of violence and language- please tell me if I should change the rating.)

**If there are any different languages spoken, the translation will be beneath it in _italics._**__

**{A/N: **Thank you everyone that reviewed! I thought I'd be waiting for a month or so to get five reviews, and I'm actually gonna say thanks for proving me wrong. And before I forget, there are personal replies to each of the reviewers at the end. Once again, thank you!

Now I'm gonna raise a point, cuz I wanna see if this happens to anyone else: I was rereading the first chapter a few minutes ago so I could continue, and it was then that I noticed *all* of my mistakes… So it might be confusing cuz I mixed P's and B's (mostly with Hunter), and at one point, a G and a V. Does this happen to anyone else, or is this the reason I have only average grades in grammar?**}**

"Uh-huh… yah… whatever… uh-huh…" Kit yawned as she listened to her friend from the Wicca World chatrooms (3GreenSpringSnakesss) babble on and on over the phone. "That's all nice and dandy, Jake, but did ya find it?"

There was a brief pause, and Kit's eyes narrowed, seemingly turning darker, "Really? Okay… that's really, not expectable… whoa… slow down! What do you- how did you find out about this? Don't you dare hang up on me!"

Angrily slamming her self-phone shut, she turned to Cam, "Okay, okay… your right. Everyone in that chatroom can't be trusted, but most can. Happy now?"

"Who are you talking about, and what **are** you looking for?" Cam asked her. He vaguely remembered the last time she had been looking for something, which had turned out to be a Nightmare Stone- a stone commonly used in the vengeance magicks of Tsuki-Mizu Academy.

"You don't know him, and I'm looking for… er… isn't it nice out?" Kit replied, smoothing out her Academy uniform, which somewhat resembled Tori's, except instead of cerulean it was crafted with purple. 

 "No, actually," Shane muttered as he walked into Ninja Opts with Dustin. "Its all rainy and slippery, why wouldn't you let us take your car anyways?"

Kit held back a snort, "And I should trust you two brick-brains with my new car because…?"

Dustin was about to retort with something, but Cam stopped him, "Drop it, she's too stubborn- once she makes up her mind, I believe there's no changing it, believe me, I know."

"And I've made up my mind to catch and torture Mr. Navy Ranger," Kit sneered, an iniquity smirk coming to her expression that they would soon dub her Signature Smirk. 

Shane gave her an awkward glance, "What has he ever done to you?"

**~~*~~**

Tori leaned against one of the backseat windows of the car, letting the devastating silence fall around the atmosphere. She would've had her arms crossed, but she decided it might've helped if her wrists hadn't been bound together.

Rain dribbled against the windowpanes as it fell, sliding elegantly down the glass, seeming to tease her because _it_ was free. 

She had about a thousand questions she wanted to ask Hunter, most along the lines of _'Where are you going?' _and _'Can you untie these ropes and let me off here?'_. She held back a sigh, not daring to make too much noise, hoping that maybe he'd forget about her and stop somewhere to purchase gas, giving her a chance to escape.

She nearly rolled her eyes as the thought, _'Not exactly likely.' _ran through her head…

**~~*~~**

Kit turned to Shane and sighed, "He betrayed me, that's what."

"Wh-what do you mean, he betrayed you?" Shane inquired. "How do you even know him?"

Kit switched her gaze to the floor frowning, "At one point… after his parents died in that accident… before Hunter's family adopted him… He was, well… he was my foster brother… he promised he'd help keep… _it_ away from Lothor… but Lothor probably has it by now…"

"Is the _it _your referring to what you're looking for?" Cam demanded.

Kit glanced over at him, "What do you think, Cameron? I need to get this… It's a scroll, and if Lothor has it, we hafta hope no one on his side can influence magick by the sound of voice." 

"We'll get it then," Dustin offered, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Nope," Kit sighed biting her lower lip. "I can't exactly tell you where it is."

Cam glared at her for a second before demanding, "And why not, Ketsueki?"

Ignoring him, Kit walked out of Ninja Opts, looking thoroughly ticked. Though something in her eyes gave away the fact that she used anger as a shield from pain and sorrow. It would take a lot to break down that barrier…

**~~*~~**

Hunter pulled up into the driveway of a large hotel. It wasn't all that grand looking, more just stuck with a few dim lights outside casting shadows on the cream-colored bricks, wooden doors, and small glass windows of the fifteen-story building.

Tori stiffened slightly as he came around to the back of the car and opened the door. He pulled her out, but (as she noticed, somewhat surprised) not roughly. He untied the ropes around her wrists and ordered, "Inside, don't talk. Just shut up and try to look normal, not bored out of your mind like you look right now."

Tori didn't respond and looked down at the pavement, gently kicking at a small stone. Hunter pulled a burgundy duffel bag out of his trunk before locking his car and guiding Tori towards the building. 

**~~*~~**

"Um, guys? Is it just me, or does anyone else think we should be going after her?" Dustin asked.

Shane nodded in vast agreement, "She's probably gonna get herself in loads of trouble- what's she looking for anyway?"

"I believe its called _'Falling Moons' _or something along those lines," Cam informed them as he looked up from Kit's laptop. "It says here that… can only be activated by influenced magick by the sound of voice. She put this in code… and riddle. Whatever it is, it has to be something big if she's this freaked out over it."

"Dude, are you even a loud to go through her files?" Dustin asked, looking over Cam's shoulder.  

Cam hesitated for a few seconds before replying, "Not really… but what she doesn't know can't hurt her."

"You've been around us too long- your beginning to act like us now, Cam," Shane stated, seeming surprised.

Cam rolled his eyes, "Shut up and go after her… I just found something that seems really disturbing."

Shane and Dustin nodded in unison before running out of Ninja Ops hastily.

**~~*~~**

Ketsueki scuffed along side a very-well hidden river, located near a cave underground. This was where Blake had helped her hide the scroll, and she could only hope he hadn't already dug it out.

"Too bad Cam didn't let me get that Nightmare Stone… It'd be useful about now," she muttered under her breath as she trudged along. 

She hugged herself, trying to shrug off the cold that loomed around the cave. _'The place could do with a heater,' _she mused. 

There was a shuffling sound around the corner, as though some one were walking around there. Her eyes narrowed, as she already knew who it was. Stepping into the area, she sneered, "Hello, Blake."

**~~*~~**

Two queen-sized beds, a desk, a dim lamp, a fuzzy TV, and worn chairs were the only things that filled the small fourteenth-floor hotel room Tori noted. She was somewhat annoyed, being as Hunter had replaced the bondage on her wrists and ankles.

She leaned against the headboard of the bed nearest to the back of the room, another prevention of her escape. Personally, she thought he tried too much to prevent her from getting close to escaping; the extra locks on the door had been added and screeched when someone attempted to remove them, the room was on the fourteenth floor to keep her from jumping out the window, and Hunter had made sure there were no leaky pipes or anything she could manipulate with her Ninja powers.

"Your looking bored again," Hunter informed her as he walked into the room with a tray loaded with food from the cafeteria on the lobby floor. 

She rolled her eyes, "Gees I wonder why. Just out of curiosity, do you think you could untie these and let me go down to the lobby to… er… get something?"

"Nice try," he muttered sarcastically, putting a plate in front of her. "Not working."

"Well, can ya at least untie my wrists?" She huffed.

**~~*~~**

"I'm still trying to figure out that girl," Dustin stated as though continuing a conversation. 

Shane cocked an eyebrow, "Who?"

"Ketsueki, or Kit… Whatever her name is." Dustin answered. "She's just… I dunno, weird."

"She's hot-tempered, Cam's cousin, Blake's foster sister, naturally blonde, computer geek, seems to like the color purple, likes bossing people around. I think that about sums it up," Shane offered.

Dustin shrugged, "I know all that… but I get the impression that she's well… hiding something."

"Kelzacks, bro. We'll chat later," Shane warned, pointing at the woods looming behind Dustin.

**~~*~~**

Blake sighed, "You shouldn't be here now, Kit. It's a very bad time…" 

"Of course it is. _HELLO_, you brain-dead? I'm not the one whose about to break a promise," Kit replied rolling her eyes.

"No, not like that kind of bad time," Blake warned. "It's a really bad time."

"Care to explain why?" Kit demanded.

That was when a new voice cut in, one easily recognizable as Lothor's, "Because I'm here."

Kit shuddered, not daring to turn around, "Yah, I figured that much out… Dad…"

**~~*~~**

With a sigh, Cam reverted his attention back to the computer screen. Normally he loved cracking codes, but not Kit's. Hers were overly confusing to figure out.

 51V0VV  +4;;5  +R0W^   71-13  %4R^31V3%  5^135 

**~~*~~**

Anyone think they can break the code? Here's a hint: the first two words are _Snow Falls_.

By the way, does anyone want any specific couples in here? I have fun with romantic stuff… Also, the next chapter may have some mild language, but I'm hoping its nothing you can't handle…

I'm sorry if this is… er… cloudy in some parts, I wrote this when I had a nice little fever and nice big headache. So you'll hafta forgive me for any confusing parts (though they might be confusing on purpose).

Now for the personal replies, or whatever it is these things are called:

**Super ZEO Silver: **Thanks for the shop's name. I really appreciate the help! 

**Teal: **Thank you.

**Ezri: **Nice name- looks cool. Arigato (Thank you in Japanese)

**Lauren: **Thank you very much- just outta curiosity, how are you with suspense?

**Jenn: **Kansha suru(Thanks in Japanese)

**Lady Lightspeed: **Thank you lots for the compliments- personally I don't think this is that good.

**Sally Martin: **Thanks. I'll happily use that pairing. You're really Sally Martin? I'm honored. 

**Ssgstallion: **Arigato.

**Kayson: **Well, obviously I didn't hafta wait that long for five reviews. Nice to hear you really liked it- thanks.

**Maddie: **I know its kind of shaky in some parts; we can give all thanks to writer's block. Thanks for complimenting my style of writing! ^-^

**Ragemoon: **I'll try to add more action, probably within the next few chapters. Your welcome for the read, but I should be thanking you for reviewing.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And PLEASE review!!!


	3. Division III: Nightmare's Inferno

**{A/N: **Yes, this *is* a chapter. I'm gonna put this in a weird order, so bear with me, k? I'm starting with personal replies, and then going to a little thing I'm calling 'Concerning Kit', next comes the chapter, then my begging for feedback. Thanks for reading (and reviewing *hint, hint*)!**}**

**Personal Replies:**

**Vespera: **Okay, first I would like to say arigato for the compliments. I don't want to say anything about what you've said about Kit here, but I've definitely taken what you've said into consideration and I'll be working on those small problems. Once again, thanks.

**Ragemoon: **Thanks for the ideas- I _really_ like one of them, and you'll get the credit when I get around to using it. Arigato for the reviews! ^-^

 **TJ:** Thanks.

**Synalm:** Kansha suru

**Just a Somebody: **I probably should put in more stuff with Tori and Hunter… okay, then. Arigato!

**Skimmboardergirl:   **Sorry- this won't be a Blake/Tori pairing. Though I'll try to write a Cassie/Andros fic if I get 60 reviews… Anyways, thanks for the review.

**Veronica: **Thanks. And, at this rate, I can write a few more fics about Tori. Any suggestions on the ship?

**Joel: **Thank you- sorry this took a while to get out…

**Add: **About the 'dude' thing… I'll try to add that in- sorry… heh, bad history with the word. 

**MMkbuckley: **Thanks. I'll try to write a fic for that ship too…

**Moi as in *ME*: **Thank you.

**ShInImEgAmI: **k… arigato.

**Kanja: **LOL- thanks for the ideas. I'll definitely put certain ones into consideration.

Heart-breaker86: Thanks

Dione: 'k

H: TY

Low Five: so far you're right, and you have the code down. Congrats. And thanks

JK: hi…

Another A/N: Sorry this took so long to get up; there have been quite a few problems lately. One was that I was grounded for three months. The second was falling down some stairs and not telling anyone- hence ending up in the hospital not long later…Another is a family matter. And the last one took place barely five minutes ago and included a knife and my finger…

****

**Concerning Kit:**

****

Okay, Kit was put in this story to basically create a mess than disappear. I'm working between two ideas on what will happen to her, but I think I have my mind made up. 

As they finally revealed in Ninja Storm, Lother and Sensei are brothers, and as Kit is Lother's daughter (I'm amazed I haven't been killed for that yet), it's only reasonable that Sensei's her uncle and Cam is her cousin. 

With her connection with Blake, I needed a reason for her to be mad at him in particular, and because she's never met Tori, that turn seemed to be the only way to go. 

Also, you have my promise that she won't be hanging around much longer. Judging by what happens in this chapter, I'm pretty sure she'll be gone by the end of the next chapter. 

Oh, and quick warning: she's sort of whiney in this chapter…

*Thanks everyone for their comments on Kit!* 

**~~*~~**

Fooling Me 

**Division III: **Nightmare's Inferno ****

By EclipseKlutz 

**Genre: **Romance/Action/Adventure/Drama

**Rating: **PG

(_Would it be a good idea to change the rating to PG-13?_)

**Disclaimer: **Don't own PR… though I do own: this plot and Kit…

If there is anything spoken in a different language, the translation shall be beneath it in italics.

****

Dustin sighed as a kulzack lunged at him. A simple sticking his foot out was all it took to have the space alien rolling around on its black and red striped back. He kicked another one, which, to his smug satisfaction, fell into the one behind it knocking them both down.

Shane found his attackers equally boring, punching every now and then, and stepping to the side so the kulzacks would crash into each other.

"Man, I thought that only worked in the movies," He commented as he looked down at the pile of kulzacks that had collected on the floor in a similar fashion to dust.

**~~*~~**

"Well, can ya at least untie my wrists?" Tori huffed.

Hunter nodded, and quickly untied the cord. Tori wrung her hands, trying to get back the small amount of circulation she had lost in them.

_'If I just keep her from the other rangers, they won't be a complete team… So Lother and Black will get revenge on them for what they're Sensei did… so why do I have the feeling something's going to go wrong?' _ Hunter thought as he watched in amusement as the blue Ninja Storm ranger poke at her meal with a fork.

She glanced over at him, "Why are you staring at me, and why does this resemble the food from my elementary school?"

Rolling his eyes and turning away, Hunter began to look through his duffel bag, fishing a red planner out. Once he had finished flipping through it, he stated, "Tell me when you're done, we're going to have to go shopping soon..."

Sending him a strange look of mock concern, Tori pushed the food aside disgustedly, "Done."

After untying her ankles, he guided her through the halls. A caustic smell filled the air around the sixth floor, and a man ran down the halls frantically.

As he passed them, his words echoed in the air: "Fire!!! FIRE!!!! The stairs are BLOCKED!"

Dismissing him for a nutcase, Hunter opened the doors to the stairs, only to find what the man had said was true. They could hardly step inside it was so clouded with smoke, and as they looked around, they were pretty sure the elevators were the same way.

Except it didn't come, and the screams from the shaft they were looking at told them exactly what had happened…

**~~*~~**

"Password Protected Page,"the computer announced again stubbornly for the fifth time. 

Cam sighed, trying to think back to the password she had always used. When it didn't surface his mind, he X-ed out the program he was running, and looked back over the code.

He glared at it for a few more minutes, before rolling his eyes at what he considered 'obvious'. Cam right clicked the text twice, and when nothing came up he was positive of what he had been missing. 

Opening the document onto one of Kit's many advanced programs, he finally could tell what she had done by the _Layer and History_ panel off to the side: Scanned in the original scroll, then put a layer over it with 100% opaqueness, and put it onto a program she invented called Fox Sees. 

Sighing, he did what he believed he should've done the moment he got his hands on the document, which was deleting the added layer.

Though the code was gone, he was still faced with an ancient language to translate it. After slipping it through one of the not password protected programs, he wished he had stayed far away from the document. 

What it said wasn't pleasant- nor was it the actual scroll.  

**~~*~~**

Kit shuddered, not daring to turn around, "Yah, I figured that much out… Dad…"

Lother grimaced at the name. He was used to being called Uncle and Master, but Dad was something he hadn't heard since he walked out on his mortal wife and child years ago. "Who are you?"

"Let's see… Ketsueki No-Last-Name, member of Tsuki-Mizu Academy. At least for starters," she informed him, the angry glint normally residing in her eyes now resembled pure fiery hatred. "For more advanced smart people, as I'm sure you consider yourself, I enjoy the color purple, foxes, music, and… oh yes, getting revenge on the person who killed my mother, A.K.A., my father. Which, bringing that all back around, would be you."

Glaring at her was a skeptic expression; Lothor stated, "You've got the wrong space alien- I only left, didn't kill. But now, anyways, I think you should go prancing off to find your Daddy Dearest while end the world, deal?"

"And in not killing her, she did so herself," Kit muttered sadly. Wiping a tear from her face before it was too evidently there, she glared over at Blake, "Besides, you won't be finding it there."

Glancing back at her, surprised, Blake inquired, "Well that would explain why I haven't found anything yet, what'd you do with it?"

"Unfortunately I didn't have enough common sense to burn it, but I did hide it somewhere else."

"Sorry then," Blake said, not meaning it all. After a few quick words, he now stood in front of her as the navy ranger. 

Lother leaned against a wall, and watched as the fight progressed before him, his mind lurking on what Kit had said: _"And in not killing her, she did so herself." _A wave of something washed over him, an emotion he couldn't place, though he had a strange hunch it was regret.

Blake had made it a point to deliver the first move, which had been a punch at her jawbone that she only narrowly dodged. Making quick recovery, she returned with a high kick that he merely ducked boredly, before grabbing her leg leaving her standing on one foot, determined not to fall. And with that determination also came with her launching her foot backwards, knocking him in the cheek with his own hand. But since his helmet was fairly hard, she figured most of the damage was on his hand. Either way, he let go.

Knowing he had a fairly big advantage, she was beginning to consider whether or not she should be running away. Being stubborn as she was lead to the decision of sending a hooked punch at his arm, resulting in a scraped fist.

"Come on already, its not like she's a ranger or anything," Lother complained, his voice edged with boredness. 

"Fine," Blake obeyed, and tossed her into one of the walls. 

She landed in the river on top of her ankle, and the faint cracking noise suggested it was either broken or sprained. As Blake and Lother began to disappear she sneered, "We'll finish this later, Blake… and it won't go your way."

"Your right, it probably won't end like I want it to," he replied threateningly. "But I'll still win."

And they were gone.

Shane and Dustin rushed in at about that moment, both looking rather frustrated and muddy. Dustin's comment as they reached the cavern was definitely telltale, "Dude, why are these places so… muddy?"

"Try because they're caves," Kit retorted, they hadn't noticed her and she was still sitting in the river, painfully gripping her ankle.

"Okay, well then. We've found you, now let's go," Shane said, turning to leave.

"Excuse me, a little a help here please," Kit muttered exasperated, motioning at her foot. "I didn't have a very nice landing, gee… who'd of thought power ranger armor, or whatever it is, was so hard."

**~~*~~**

Tori stared at the shaft. Her eyes narrow, she stated, "Give me back my morpher."

"Even better, you sit here, I'll get them down." Hunter suggested, his tone making it very clear she wasn't getting her morpher back.

"Fine," Tori said, rolling her eyes and tossing her hands into the air. She watched as he morphed and yanked the shaft's doors open, before climbing up the chain inside.

Once she was positive he was too bust to check back in on her, she dashed back to their hotel room, holding her breath as long as she could as she made her way up the stairs. Upon reaching the landing, she stood outside the door for sometime trying to regain all air in her lungs, before dashing back to the room.

After tearing things out of his duffel bag, and not finding anything, she began ripping apart the room, finding what she was looking for in a fairly obvious place: underneath Hunter's pillow.

Morphing quickly, she hastily made her way to the elevator shaft. Using her sword to pry the doors apart, she glanced down. From what she could tell through all the smoke, the elevator appeared to be stuck right between the twelfth and thirteenth levels. 

"They always said thirteen was an unlucky number," she muttered, jumping down and landing perfectly on top of the elevator. Just as she was about to open the emergency door, the lights of the hotel flickered. And went off.

Rolling her eyes and not daring to jinx anything with a witty comment, she went back to prying the door open. As it swung from its clasp, she looked inside; Hunter was glaring upwards at her, though the sigh he let out sounded somewhat relieved. A pregnant mother held her toddler in a corner; two nine year-old twin boys grabbed at their grandpa's shirt for reassurance, though his wide eyes and worried expression were far from reassuring; and a couple stood in opposite of the control panel, the woman was holding her dog tightly, and her husband was gently squeezing her shoulder.

Oh yeah, and there was plenty of smoke, not to mention heat.

"I see you weren't as successful as you thought you'd be," Tori commented wryly. Without waiting for a reply, she stretched her hand out to the woman cradling her child. "Hand him here, ma'am lease… er, it is a he, right?"

 She couldn't see much of the child through the fog. But the woman handed the child up, saying, "Yes… his name is Thomas…"

Holding the child in one arm, Tori pulled herself onto the narrow platform stationed next to the door to the thirteenth floor. After yanking one of the doors open and checking to make sure there wasn't much smoke, she gently set the toddler on the landing. 

"You know, Hunter, you could make yourself useful," she muttered, hopping down into the elevator, grabbing one of the twins, and pulling herself back up, and setting him on the thirteenth floor. 

With a shrug, Hunter grabbed the other twin and handed him up, saving her the trouble of jumping back down. The process continued like that, until all the inhabitants of the elevator, except for hunter were safely on the thirteenth story.

Tori stepped back as the crimson thunder ranger pulled himself out, and was about to make her way to thirteenth floor herself, when a loud snapping noise caught both of their attention. 

Looking up, Hunter saw the chain cracking. Grabbing Tori's wrist, he jumped onto the platform, pulling her along with him. Yanking her wrist from his grasp, and about to question why he just did that, her words didn't leave her mouth as the smashing sound from the first floor rang to through the corridors. 

"Well then," Hunter began, standing up and glancing down the halls, "I think we have to put out that fire, care to help Miss Blue?"

The death glare she sent him was priceless; unfortunately he didn't see it though, as her visor was still on. 

Chasing him down the corridors, and catching up easily, she began to calculate where the fire might be. Settling with second floor, by the thickness of the smoke, she opened the door quickly, but hastily attempted to shut it again as flames leaked out. 

Turning around, she ordered, "You get everyone out, and I'll see what I can do about the fire."

Hunter nodded, and turned away, dashing back up the stairs. Tori took one step into the halls, trying to ignore the pressing heat. But it just got denser and denser as she sidestepped the fire. Finally muttering something along the lines of, "This is ridiculous," she turned to stare at an ice machine.  

Water came spurting out; falling across the flames and slowly demolishing them as more and more came forth. 

She continued walking down the corridor, her eyes narrowing with suspicion as they fell upon a broom closet. Opening the door, Tori could tell by the matches on the floor that the fire wasn't accidental.

Looking up at the walls, her eyes widened and she slammed the door shut before running as fast as she could down the corridor…

**~~*~~**

Cam paced back and forth, nearly wearing a hole in the highly polished floor of Ninja Opts. Footsteps down the stairs alerted him to other's presence, and the audible wincing he could easily place as Kit. When they entered, Kit hopped over to a chair on one foot, and sat down. 

"What took you so long?" Cam demanded, sounding a tad bit worried.

Looking over at him Kit stated, "Probably because I just became Hop-along… _again_. You wouldn't happen to have any ice packs around here, would ya?" 

"What's up, Cam?" Shane asked, as Dustin exited the room to grab some ice.

"Other than the scroll you're trying to get ends the world?" Cam retorted angrily.

**~~*~~**

Hunter stood outside, positive that the last of the hotel's occupants had left. As he turned around to help Tori, he was thrown backwards from a fiery force. The kind that only a bomb has.

Looking up from the place on the parking lot he had landed on, he saw that the hotel was now hardly a structure anymore, yet completely burnt. He heard what he presumed to be the sixteenth floor collapsing and taking out quite a few floors beneath it. 

"_Tori_…"  

**~~*~~**

**A/N: **Okay, sorry this took so long… and it's probably not that good- but I think I can get the next chapter up sooner since this is the only fic I'm working on currently… Anyways- please review!!! 


	4. Division IV: Inner Demons

Fooling Me 

**Division IV: **_Inner Demons_

By EclipseKlutz PG-13 Romance/Action/Adventure Hunter/Tori 

**A/N: **Heh, I sprained my ankle for the second time in four months, so if you want my excuse for not updating quickly this time- that's my excuse. 

_An eight-year-old girl with messy shoulder-length_ _hair and sad eyes sat huddled on the second-floor landing of her stepfamily's small house. With wide eyes, she listened to her stepparents fighting, tears flowing down her face as she heard each of their points._

"Would you just shut the hell up, Maurice?!" her stepfather, Ernie, shouted, and she heard something that sounded like his fist colliding with her stepmother, Maurice's, flesh, and Maurice's slight whimper as an aftereffect.

"Take your own advice for a change!" Maurice cried in her banshee voice, tossing a teacup at the wall behind Ernie. "We could've- should've, gotten a puppy! But **no**! You wanted a kid! 'That one looks like she needs a home,' you said- like hell! We should've left the girl there, if we were lucky she could've gotten a family with enough money to actually take care of her!"

"So, all of a sudden your interested in her welfare? Then get another job- you've been so damn lazy since you got fired from your last one! It would've been the same with a dog- bed, toys, and food!" Ernie shouted back.

_Maurice took a deep breath before countering, "Face it- the girl's only given us bad luck since she got here! It'd be better if she were just dead! Dammit, her mother could've had enough common sense not to commit suicide, and leave her at that orphanage!"_

_The scene faded away, only to be replaced by a new one of the same girl a few years older, maybe eleven, standing in the back corners of a middle school courtyard after school hours. A few kids approached her, obviously from one of local rivaling gangs._

_"Hand over your money," the one who she presumed was the leader (he was the biggest and was wearing the most leather) demanded._

_She shook her head in response, the every day routine. He lashed out at her with his fist, and she leaned backwards, and sent her foot upwards. His fist missed by inches, though her kick collided square in the center of his stomach. She jumped up, knowing she'd have to fight now._

_Another of the boys, one she recognized as Henry from her homeroom class, threw himself at her. She put her arms out in front of her and grabbed his shoulder, tossing him aside. The last one, who she thought was called Jake, grabbed her around the neck while she had been distracted, and lifted her a few inches off the ground (there were problems with being the youngest in her school, and the shortest)._

_She pushed her foot back, digging it into his shins, but instead of letting go he tightened his choking hold on her neck. Suddenly the leader stood up, and tossed a punch at her stomach, and another one, and then another one, then a kick, a hook, and so on. Until she got really pissed off and kicked him hard in the place boys hate being kicked._

_Grabbing the guy's shoulders who was strangling her, she kneeled over and pulled him over her back and to the floor. And with one last kick at Henry's nose she ran off into the woods, hoping they wouldn't catch her._

_The scene changed once again and now she was standing outside the Tsuki-Mizu Academy ruin's, holding a scroll beneath her arm. She glared down at the floor, knowing that the wreckage was her fault. Turning back to the parking lot she climbed into her self-painted car and drove off, knowing exactly where she was going. _

_Along the way she stopped in a forest and dropped the scroll. Leaving it there would mean that no one else would cause an apocalypse, or accidentally end the lives of the only people who had ever tried to be their friend. Years ago she decide to let no emotions show through her expressions, now for the first time in all those years she allowed tears to fall._

Kit sat up abruptly, and squinted into the darkness so she could reach the lamp on her bedside table. As soon as the light was on she fell back against her pillows and sighed, her brilliant plan of coming back to her cousin and uncle was turning out to not be so brilliant. She climbed out of her bed and limbed down the hallway, trying to get to the kitchens of Ninja Opts. 

A light was already on in the kitchen, but she approached anyway, hoping it was Cam. _'Oh well,' _she thought when she say Dustin. As she limped over to the fridge she asked, "Couldn't sleep?"

Dustin shrugged, "Not really, now that I know we have an apocalypse on our hands, Tori and Sensei are missing, and that you lost the scroll."

She bit her lip, and grabbed the milk and Hershey's chocolate syrup from the fridge. "I didn't exactly lose it, Dustin, I just left it somewhere where I hope no one will find it."

"So you lied?" He replied simply, watching as she poured the milk into a pan and set it over the stove.

"Bent the truth, more like," Kit answered, searching through the drawers for a spoon. Upon finally finding one, she added, "Want some hot chocolate?"

"Sure- why didn't you just tell Cam? I mean he's your cousin right?"

"He may be my cousin, Dustin, but I've really never told him anything. I was never really around much to do so, I think I've only been around here once or twice since… Can you get the cups? I'm a little too short to reach them."

Dustin shrugged and retrieved the mugs; he set them down beside her and leaned against the counter, "Since what?"

"Nothing really," Kit replied a little too quickly, pulling a few strands of hair away from her face. "Just complications, is all. So, how long have you been a ranger?"

"A couple months, I guess- time flies. Now can I ask you something a little personal?"

Kit smirked slightly as she dumped half the chocolate syrup into the mugs, "As long as you're not going to ask me out, ask away." She began rolling the cups over in her hands, so the chocolate covered all the sides of the cups.

"What have you been so eager to hide since you got here?" Dustin asked.

She paused and glanced over at him, accidentally over-flowing one of the glasses, and for the first time her eyes revealed something- shock. She turned away from him and went to get paper towels, only answering while she cleaned up the mess, "I've had… er… issues in my past, personal demons basically. The things I haven't exactly told anyone."

Dustin took the glass she handed him and sat down at the table, "Its not healthy or whatever to keep things locked up, you have to tell some one- and you have it guaranteed I won't tell anyone if you tell me." 

A half smile appeared on her face as she sat down across from him, "Fine. My father walked out when I was six, my mother swallowed half a jar of pills a few months afterwards. I got adopted by this poor couple who were constantly fighting. Lived with them until I was eight before I ran away to here. I was placed in a detention home when I was nine for shoplifting a couple times, then I was shipped away to Los Angelus when I was ten. I was in a gang for a few years, until the Tsuki-Mizu academy caught me doing magick and enrolled me. They told me that I had a destiny to change the world, and they handed me that cursed scroll. I tried to focus its energy on the space aliens, and ended up blowing up my school, and that would lead up to where I am now. Cookies? I think there's still some in the fridge."

Dustin nodded still trying to process what she had said. As she plopped down across from him again with a large plate of chocolate cookies he asked, "So you ignored what they said was your destiny?"

"Look- life is a river," she informed him, stuffing the rest of a cookie into her mouth. "Constantly flowing with rapids and sharp rocks to keep you at bay, and it branches off into different courses- your prophesied destiny, or the future you create for yourself, until the waterfall at the end where it buries you beneath all the pain, sorrow, hatred, and joy you left behind."

"Quite the optimist, aren't you?"

"Nah, the glass was always plastic."

**~~*~~**

Hunter paced back and forth in the hospital's waiting room, making several people dizzy. Finally, a nurse walked in, "You can see Miss Hanson now."

He followed the nurse down the brightly lit hallways and into the room where they had been operating on Tori. He sat down on the chair beside her bed, and tried to ignore all the needles sticking out of her arms.

The doctor sighed solemnly, "She's in a coma, young man. What was she still doing inside that building when the bomb went off? Why did you go back in?"

Hunter grabbed Tori's hand and squeezed it tightly, "She was trying to help people get out."

The doctor nodded and left, having more patients to attend to. Hunter watched him go and turned back to Tori, gently brushing a few strands oh hair away from her face, "I'm sorry…"

As he knew there would be, he received no reaction. He knew that the scorch marks, scratches, and coma were a small price to pay for how near she had been to the bomb, and that she could've lost her life all together, but he still hated seeing her like this.

With one last gentle squeeze of her hand, he stood up and made his way back to the hotel- who was going to find who put the bomb there, and they were going to pay.

**~~*~~**

Dustin gently poked Kit with the handle of a spoon again, still no reaction. He turned to Shane, "another thing to add to your list about her, she's not a light sleeper."

"Trouble!" Cam called, and the other two awake inhabitants of Ninja Opts. Ran to his side. He pointed at the screen of his computer, showing them the kelzacks in the park.

Shane shrugged, "If this all they're sending, I don't think we'll be needing any help."

Dustin nodded in response, " Ninja storm, ranger form."

A few minutes later, both the rd and yellow wind rangers where running to the park square.

**~~*~~**

Dawn had also brought Hunter back to Tori's bedside, he had searched but found no clues to who set off the bomb. He leaned back, wondering what he would've done if he'd of found the person. 

He heard a small groan and immediately looked over at Tori, though she hadn't moved from where she had been when he last checked, hardly five minutes ago. Another small groan allowed him to pinpoint the noise from the room across the hall.

False hope was going to drive him off the edge someday.

**~~*~~**

"We won't need help, huh?" Dustin commented as he threw yet another punch. The kelzack's number had increased, and they had driven the two rangers into an abandoned subway shaft.

Shane kicked at an approaching kelzack and shrugged, "how much help could she give us anyway?"

Dustin didn't answer; instead he threw a hooked punch at a nearby kelzack, catching it square in the chin. He thrust out a roundhouse kick at another one, his mind not there but on the conversation he had had with Kit that morning. He was about to tell Shane that she might be able to help more than he thought, but knew that would also mean he was betraying Kit's trust- he had told her after all that he wouldn't tell anyone.

Suddenly the kelzack's backed away, and before Shane could ask why, Lothor stepped into view, with Kapri, Marah, and Blake behind him, "If you need help against them, how'll you fair against us?"

"We can always try," Shane hissed in response.

"How brave," Lothor commented as he leaned against a wall. 

Kapri slowly stepped forwards, pulling out a sword and holding it up, "I've been practicing."

"So have I," Shane replied, pulling out his own sword.

Dustin rolled his eyes as Marah walked over to him and stated, "Let's make this quick, okay? I have a show I wanna see in a half hour."

"Whatever," Marah replied in her high-pitched voice as she pulled out her own sword.

"That's uneven," Lothor smirked, "Who'll take on Mr. Navy?"

"I will," Kit yawned as she trotted down the steps and into the subway shaft, careful not to put too much wait on her ankle. "Do you have any idea how much noise you guys make? I mean Cam's drum set isn't even that loud."

"Fine," Blake replied solemnly, knowing why she was challenging.

"Let the match begin," Lothor muttered, and so it did.

**~~*~~**

**A/N: **any suggestions? I'm on major writer's block. Kit won't be around by the end of next chapter hopefully. By the way, if I only get like, four reviews this time, I'll start pressing for one hundred!!


	5. Division V: Mistakes

Fooling Me 

**Division V: **_Mistakes_

**EclipseKlutz   **

**A/N: **advanced warning: there's some Latin, Japanese, and uh… violence in this chapter, plus a few parts might be kind of gory.

Taking a small breath, Shane lashed out with his sword, wanting to make the first move. Kapri stepped aside and held her own sword out in the way of his and shoved it back. Then stepping forwards, she swiped at his side, an attack he only narrowly countered.

Dustin stumbled back into Shane, he had allowed Marah to make the first attack and was thrown off his feet, so to speak. He shoved his own ninja-sword forwards, shoving Marah harshly away, before hopping to his feet again. 

Marah glared and walked around him, speeding her pace as she went. As he began to get dizzy she knelt down quickly and pulled her leg under his feet, once more dragging him to the floor.

Shane glanced over one second too long and got knocked on the side of the head by Kapri's sword, he stumbled slightly, though quickly regained his posture and hooked his sword.

Nearby, Kit was performing a sequence of acrobatic flips and ducks, every now and then sending a kick or punch. She was obviously out of breath and loosing, hardly finding the breath to mutter one of the incantations she had learned at the academy, "_C-cunto… apud debello…" _

Blake threw a punch at her, and she tried to duck away, though still received most of the blow. She flipped backwards, and tripped over Marah's foot, landing sprawled on her face on the ground. 

The navy ranger approached, wanting to get this over with, though only to be stopped as Dustin dodged Marah, and accidentally struck Blake with his sword, causing the thunder ranger to turn quickly away from his target, and go after Dustin.

"Dustin, get away!" Kit shouted as she climbed to her feet. "_Erus cimmerii apud acipio, auquilibritas abnocto adiutrix actium cautor praedis advolvo apud_."  

Dustin quickly obliged and returned to his battle with Marah, alerting her to his presence with a tap on her shoulder with the blade of his sword, and then lashed out with it. 

Blake was thrown into the back wall of the subway station by a wave of dark energy, and Kit stumbled backwards landing on her back on the floor muttering something about "backlashes of the demon of fear". 

In the background the sound of Blake screaming something about flying monkeys gave Shane the chance to push Kapri back so she stood beside Marah, and Dustin brought out his over-sized yellow hammer, pounding the ground with it. The force of the tremor saw the two ditzy space aliens off their feet.

Marah glared at Dustin and pulled herself up. Using Kapri as an unwilling footstool, she leapt into the air and kicked him in the stomach. Kapri stood as well, and turned to Shane- suddenly she was gone.

He heard the rustle of wind as someone crept up behind him, and stepped aside just before Kapri's sword swiped at the space where his left shoulder had been moments before.  

"_Yuki rakka achi-kochi kurai sora; mamoru hanarete kindai no yokotawaru. Anata ga shite mo yoi sukoshimo hashiru soshite kakusu, sore wa de atta dake hitotsu no yume. Hitotsu no yume nageru no soba ni higure hidari_." Kit muttered as she leaned against a wall in the far corner, glaring at Lothor though watching Blake from the corner of her eye just to make sure she didn't over-do the spell on him. 

Suddenly the room fogged up with a thick blanket of smoke, and a black ninja sword spun through the air. 

Even though Dustin couldn't see anything through the fog that pressed down around him, he and everyone else in the room easily heard Kit's echoing scream as the sword pierced her flesh. 

He waved a hand in front of his face, and abandoning the stunned Marah, he ran toward who he thought had thrown the sword. As he approached the area of the subway tunnel the mist grew gradually denser, as though to shield the person it was hiding. He lashed out with his sword, only to find it halted in midair by the unknown ninja's hand. 

"Don't allow your feelings to cloud your judgment, it causes your worst mistakes," The ninja informed him; his voice was muffled by the black mask that covered his face and mouth.

Pulling his sword back and striking out with it again only to have it once again blocked, Dustin replied with a simple yet meaningful and angered, "Oh, yeah? What would you know if you're a murderer?"

"How many space aliens have you killed at this point? How many more in the future? What makes this any different?" The ninja sneered as he forcefully pushed Dustin away and tried to walk out of the subway station.

"She wasn't evil!" Dustin shouted swiping at him once again only to have his blow deflected once more.

The ninja spun around angrily, "What makes you so sure of that?"

His words left Dustin slightly dumbfounded giving the ninja a chance to leave, which he took. As he left his last words hung in the air as a silent mourning, "I'm really sorry, Ketsueki."

Shaking the strange feeling of déjà vu off, Dustin hastily sprinted over to Kit only to find her condition was a lot worse than he had been hoping. Shane stood beside him a moment later, since Lothor and his two nieces along with Blake had retreated. 

The sword stuck through her abdomen, pinning her two the wall and bleeding quite freely. Kit glared at up at them, her hands cut and bleeding as well from attempting to pull the sword out yet making little progress.

"Quickly," she muttered as Shane tried to pull the sword out.

He nodded and yanked as hard as he could, and in result Kit collapsed to the floor. The two boys exchanged glances, not bothering to wipe away the vast amounts of blood that had managed get everywhere. 

Shane pulled out his morpher and began talking into it, "Cam…"

**~~*~~**

"What's going on?"

The frightened inquiry awoke Hunter from his needed slumber, but as he looked around ready to scream at whoever had spoken it seemed his heart skipped a beat. "You're awake."

Tori was propped up against the wall behind her bed, looking a little better besides the cuts on her face, and her extremely confused expression. She glanced over at him, "Who the hell are you?"

Hunter was a little taken back but replied as calmly as he could, "You don't remember?"

Tori's expression twisted into concentration, as she sifted through her few remaining memories. After what seemed like eternity she shook her head, "No… though I don't seem to like you much, do I?"

"I don't know how you felt, but you did manage to most likely save my life," Hunter shrugged, trying to hide the slight hurt he felt.

"Wow. A hero with no memory, well that beats my theory of ordinary person caught in fire," Tori responded dryly. "So, what happened?"

Hunter bit his lower lip, "I was hoping you could tell me."

Tori slouched down back underneath the covers looking disappointed, "Great… so, with the basics- who am I and who are you?"

"Your Tori Hanson," Hunter responded watching with slight amusement as she gave him a strange look. "And I'm Hunter…"

"Yeah, uh, and how do I know you- and why do I have the feeling I'm in the wrong place?" Tori inquired looking around at the bleach-white walls of her hospital room.

Hunter sighed and set to work telling her about Shane, Dustin, and the power rangers then told her a false story about how she was here (they went on a road trip) though he did at least tell her the true events of the hotel (leaving out that she didn't have her morpher). Finally he yawned, signifying that he was done with his tale.

"Alright I guess," Tori replied finally as the nurse walked in.

The nurse stared at her wide-eyed and with her jaw hanging until she turned and ran out of the room muttering something about, "And Dc. Stevenson said she'd never wake up!"

**~~*~~**

"Doctor!" Shane shouted as he ran slightly in front of Dustin and behind Cam into the emergency center of the local hospital.   

The secretary at the front desk looked at them through her turquoise-shell spectacles and gasped. She glanced down the hall and motioned frantically for the nearest team of nurses wheeling a cot to come.

Dustin set Kit gently down on the white bed, immediately soaking most of the covers beneath her in blood and tried to follow as they wheeled her away.

"What happened?" One of the male nurses inquired.

"Uh… she was chasing her cat through a construction site and fell into one of the basements- she landed on what's supposed to be the plumbing line," Dustin lied quickly- too quickly.

The nurse glanced at him unbelievingly yet said nothing and trailed the rest of the nurse-team into one of the emergency rooms.

"A construction site?" Cam asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Spur of the moment thing," Dustin replied hastily, flopping down in one of the dark blue chairs in the waiting room.

"I guess- next time use my playground one," Shane muttered as he sat down across from the yellow ranger.

Cam rolled his eyes, "Next time _I_ come up with the excuse."

Roughly an hour and fifteen minutes later found the group inside Kit's room, sipping coffee as various doctors and nurses bustled in and out.

"Sorry Kit."

Dustin spun at the familiar muffled voice, his eyes narrowing immediately, "You. Why are you here?"

"I'm apologizing," the ninja said simply in a quiet, angst-ridden voice. "Something you might to try- it could save someone's life in the future."

"What would you know about saving someone?" Cam demanded.

"A lot actually- more than you."

"How much do you know of murder?" Dustin sneered, pointing at Kit. "She's dead, you know. According to the doctors. They gave up on her and declared her dead ten minutes ago."

The ninja nodded and pushed his way passed them over to her bedside. "I know, and I regret it more than you… though it had to happen, preferably sooner but," he didn't finish, but merely placed a black rose on the table next to the bed.

Suddenly Shane tackled him, surprising the ninja greatly. The other two pitched in until finally they managed to wrestle him to the floor.

"Now let's see who you are," Cam muttered as he yanked off the ninja's mask.

The group stared in stunned silence at the familiar face.

**~~*~~**

**A/N: **I know, I know. I could've written this a lot better but I wanted to get it up. I also know its short by I like the attempted-cliffhanger. Can anyone guess who the 'Ninja' is? Anyways- reviews I update, no reviews it stays as it is. Preferably more than six if you want a quick update!  


	6. Division VI: Future

Fooling Me 

**Division VI: **Future****

By EclipseKlutz

**WARNING:** chapter's a little confusing in some parts, but hang in there- it gets better.

**A/N: **I'm sorry but why is it that several people were telling me to get rid of Kit, and others are finally speaking up telling me they liked her? Gees people, make up your minds!

{The lights flickered above him as he walked down one of the eerie, barren hallways of the mental hospital trying to avoid looking into the rooms. He closed his eyes and wished, as he had many times before, that he would wake up and this would all be just a bad dream.

_"It's not," he told himself under his breath. "This time it's for real."_

_The sound of malicious laughter ahead of him told him he was finally approaching his destination, the high security wards. He handed the guard the slip of paper the secretary had given him and used all his mental power and self-control not to turn and run._

The Guard sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder, "She's no better, lad, unless your definition of 'better' is worse." 

He nodded, "That's… that's why I'm here, there's gotta be something I can do to help. 

"Maybe tell her the end of the world isn't coming anytime soon," The Guard told him. "It might make her angrier, but it might also get her out of this state."

_He nodded again, thanked the guard and walked off, not telling him that the apocalypse was just around the corner.}_

~~*~~

"Well, the memory loss is only temporary, as is the personality change- just give her two doses of these every day and she'll be back to normal in about a month," the nurse instructed Hunter, handing him a bottle of pills and signifying that Tori was released from the hospital.

Hunter nodded gratefully, and gently pushed Tori outside.

"Looked better through the window," Tori commented as she stared at the scenery around her.

Smiling slightly, Hunter pointed her in the direction of his car and informed her, "We have a little farther to go- mostly towards the Canadian border."

She shrugged and climbed in the front passenger seat beside him, and stared at the silent radio as he turned on the car.

"Have you heard of music?" she asked dryly.

He nodded and turned on the radio, classical music poured from the speakers.

Tori cast a sideways glance at him, "I mean real music."

She grabbed the radio knob and turned it until she was satisfied with a rock station. Hunter looked at her in surprise, yet didn't say anything.

"Bring me to life!" the radio screamed, "Wake me up inside, wake me up inside. Call my name and save me from the dark.  Bid my blood to run, before I come undone. Save me from this nothing I've become."

"I don't get it," Tori commented. "She's alive, isn't she, I mean, how else could she sing this? Unless she's dead…"

Hunter sighed and wondered if the hospital had common sense tablets for her too.

**~~*~~**

"Dustin?" the word fell from Shane's mouth before he could stop it.

"That's not me, dude," Dustin responded. "I'm right here."

The ninja shoved Cam away, "Actually, I am you- just from the future. And call me Dust."

"Oh great, I turn into a friend-murdering psycho-path who named himself after brown stuff on the floor. I'm thrilled," Dustin muttered sarcastically. "No, really, who are you?"

"He's you," Cam confirmed, holding a device out that he seemed to have pulled from thin air. "Same DNA, just seven months older… not a clone, either." 

"So, why are you here? Did you and Kit get in a fight or something and you came back to get revenge?" Shane inquired, still trying to absorb the fact that he was talking to his best friend's future image.

"Even I'm not that stupid- am I?" Dustin responded, referring (once again) to killing someone.

The future Dustin, or Dust, rolled his eyes, "No, you're not. That spell she was chanting when I got there, that was the scroll to bring out the apocalypse. Her mind's slightly twisted around this time, and it just gets worse in the future. She's always been bent on destroying the world…"

**~~*~~**

{His footsteps echoed as he walked through the halls towards the last door on the right side, the guard walked behind him. Pulling out a copper key and inserting it in the door the guard told him, "You have five minutes." 

_He nodded and walked in, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the all-white room. Leaning against the back wall in a straight jacket that looked as though she'd broken out of it a good share of times and her knees pulled to her chest sat Kit._

_"Dustin?" she asked in a choked voice._

_"Yes," he responded, kneeling down in front of her, she looked over at him and he was shocked at her appearance._

_Her eyes were beat red as though she had been crying, and the tearstains on her cheeks confirmed that. Her long hair was matted and tangled, and scrapes seemed to cover a good amount of her skin._

_Probably from the escape attempts, he tried to convince himself… though something about this didn't seem right.  _

_"I don't like it here," she told him as she saw him eye the dried blood lining the hairline along her left temple. "And I can't get out. I wanna see the end…"_

_"The end isn't a good thing," he told her, noting how her eyes dimmed as he said that. "It'll kill us all, and you too."_

_"That's the thing, Dustin. I want to see the world suffer… Pay for what they've done to me," she struggled against the sleeves of her straight jacket. "Instead they lock me up here to talk to the Powers That Be and watch the faeries fly around. But I don't want **you** to suffer. You were the nice one, the one I could trust…"_

_Dustin nodded, "I'm sorry Kit, about what they did, but the apocalypse won't to any good- a wrong can't make a right." _

_"Oh, so now your preaching like Cam- sometimes I wish I hadn't killed him," her mouth formed in a twisted version of a frown and a smile as the memories came back. She had told Dustin the entire gruesome story after they had first locked her up. Suddenly her eyes widened and she scooted away from him, "I TRUSTED YOU!"_

_"What? What is it?" he asked, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder, even after everything she had done to them over the past seven months he still forgave her and felt it was is duty to help her. Either way, she recoiled from his hand, still looking terrified._

_"I trusted you… the faeries tell me everything you think…" Kit muttered, leaning against one of the cushioned walls. A silent message passed between them._

_Dustin sighed, "Why wouldn't I after…"_

_"Please don't tell them," Kit begged. "Don't tell them what I did! Not to Cam, but what I did to… Oh, Dustin, please… I trust you… I don't want you to go…"_

_Dustin stood and turned to leave, "I'm sorry Kit, but time's up."_

_"Just do me a favor and make it gory so I don't get kicked out of this damn world without some explanation!" Kit shouted after him._

_He shut the door and sighed, "I won't make it that gory Kit, and you can hardly believe I'll do this."}_

**_~~*~~_**

****

"Stop here, please," Tori begged pointing at the gas station.

Hunter obliged when he noticed that his car was almost out of fuel anyway. He pulled up to one of the stations, and Tori climbed out before running to the ladies room.

A few minutes later found her at one of the porcelain sinks, washing her hands under the ice-cold water. A snigger behind her made her look up, and catch the reflection of some strange girl in the mirror behind her.

Tori spun as the girl approached, menace dripping from her expression. The girl had tannish skin, spiked short hair dyed blue, and surprisingly bright green eyes, she was clad in all black and had plenty of clanging silver and gold chains dangling from her wrists, neck, and ears.

"Oh, look, some strange new traveler," the girl hissed. "Hand over your money."

"Uh," Tori hesitated, searching for the right words to state the truth, "I don't have any."

"Your not from this area. So how did you get there?" the girl had pulled out a fairly sharp knife and Tori backed away slightly.

"I'm traveling with a friend," she responded, though the battle going on in her mind was more saying things along the lines of: _'Why didn't he give me back that morpher?'_ and _'Oh, god. How do I get out of this one?'_   

**~~*~~**

"I don't get it," Dustin said after a long and awkward silence. "Why would she want to end the world?"

Dust bit his lip yet didn't say anything, not wanting to betray any of her secrets. "I'm not here to be interrogated, I'm here to stop what would've happened. Now, Cam, mind explaining why I'm still here?"

Cam shrugged, "Not until you spill everything you're not telling us."

"I don't know the rest," Dust lied, keeping a straight face as he did so though. "Which is why I can't help you. I just want to get home so I can see what happened."

_"Nothing." _

The word echoed around the room, formed by a harsh whisper. Just like the rest of the message: _"Silence. Dark. It's over."_

"That's a little unnerving," Shane commented as he whipped around staring at the walls, and scanning the room looking for the source of the sound. "Who are you?"

_"Eternity. Bloodshed. Pain. Hatred. Everything."_

Dust leaned against the wall casually as the present-day Wind Rangers and Cam looked around in vain. "This was bound to happen… You're not going to find anything, now are they, Kit?"

A malicious giggle echoed in the room before the response, _"Smart. But the faeries see. Frightened little puppy. Nowhere to hide. Nowhere to run. Now that they all died."_

"Why'd you call _it_ Kit? And what the heck is she-it, rambling about?" Dustin demanded, wide eyed.

"The future," Dust responded nonchalantly, as though that explained everything. Though there was a flicker of something unreadable on his expression.

_"Ah, you suffered. Because of me. I was sad. I told you to come back. Little glints of silver flying through the air… you forgave me. Shane didn't. All that was left, one by one knocked away from their lives… all was gone."_

"All right, she's seriously scaring me now. What does she mean 'all is left' and I didn't forgive her?" Shane demanded.

_"The sky was painted with blue blood… and a green soul that day. You wouldn't take it. Chased me. Sent me there. I'M NOT INSANE!"_

"Kit, you always said denial came before anger," Dust told her in a tone that suggested he spoke to angry ghosts every day, "Do they come at the same time for you?"

_"Think you're being smart, do you?" _The air around the rippled and cracked with electricity. _"You think it's funny. Did you enjoy it? Spilling my blood? Do you wish it had been over the graves of the ones you lost? WAS THAT YOUR VENGANCE?!" _

In the place where the air had shimmered appeared the slightly transparent form of a ticked off Kit, _"It was, you know. I can see it. They can smell it. No more lies. No more secrets… this is where it ends."_

**~~*~~**

**A/N: **Yeah, start killing me for some of the things I did here. Told you it might be confusing. 

All right, who wants Kit to hang around as a poltergeist for a while longer and scare the others to death, and who wants her to rest in peace?  

Okay, I need 73 reviews to continue?


	7. Division VII: Falses And Lies

Fooling Me 

**Chapter VII: _Falses And Lies_**

By EclipseKlutz 

**Key: **_{Word}_ = In the future

The doctor had wandered these hallways many times before; they didn't scare him… well, not anymore. He used to fear the screams and waves of angst he gained every time he lost a patient, but three and a half decades of it makes a person go cold… 

But what he saw as he turned the corner and walked into the hospital room with the cot, made his blood run as cold as his emotions.

He remembered the girl the three boys had brought in, already a bloody and distressed corpse. He'd been suspicious, their story had an odd edge to it- it didn't seem right. He thought they'd been the murderers but staring into the room now only one word could cover any of it… one word could explain it: _supernatural_.

The walls were coated in thin layers of dripping blood, the room felt like a meat cart, and the three boys… they were gone. The only occupant was the corpse, but it wasn't right… nothing was… 

That was when the eyes opened.

**~~*~~**

"What's taking her so long?" Hunter demanded under his breath, tapping his foot impatiently as he leaned against his car. "I knew girls took forever, but this is ridiculous."

Rolling his eyes, Hunter made his way over to a pop machine near the bathrooms. A minute later it had spit out his dollar maybe fifteen times, and he was getting extremely annoyed with it.

That was when distorted and muffled sounds of thrashing and shouting drifted from the girl's bathroom. Narrowing his eyes, and happy he didn't live anywhere near this area, he strode in, figuring the worst that could happen was… well, he decided he didn't want to think about it.

**~~*~~**

_{Here he was… But it didn't seem right. Not right at all. Running a hand through his slightly spiked dark brown hair, he gazed intently out at the ocean from where he stood on the cliff. _

_To jump, or not to jump?_

_The breeze came then, and tussled with his red-colored attire. He hadn't changed, even when Dustin… Dust, had started wearing black claiming he was "mourning for the end". _

_But the end wasn't coming.  _

_He tilted his head back. The world was falling apart in front of him, and there was nothing he could to about it other then watch what he thought was reality being torn to bits. Pieces big enough that when nightmares corporealized they could take large bites out of it, and leave humanity left with crumbling chinks to attempt to cure._

_"But you can't fix things that aren't broken, it doesn't work that way."_

_He grimaced, what was **she** doing in his head with one of her crazy quotes? That was from the last time he had seen her… his last attempt to be rid of her. It was her fault, none of this would've happened if she hadn't come along and brought trouble to their lives._

_If it had been up to him, she'd have been gone long before she arrived- he should've known she was trouble from her first impression. But Dustin had seemed to grow fond of her, and Cam acted as though he didn't mind her presence- a person who could help him figure out how to work the Gamecube system Shane had made him buy._

But standing here now, kicking at various assorted rocks, Shane knew it had all been a mistake… or an act. Every one he knew was gone… Sensei, Tori, Cam, and Dustin had disappeared recently- after his last visit with her.

_To jump…_

_…To end his problems…_

_…All of them._

_ This time he didn't try to counter the thoughts. It was all over anyway, and his belief of fighting to the end had fallen a long time ago. Closing his eyes and taking a heavy, shuddering breath he stood back and ran at the ledge…_

_…And fell.}_

**~~*~~**

"I told you, I don't have anything to give you!" Tori shouted at her attacker as she found herself backed up against the wall with a knife dangerously close to her throat.

Her attacker put on a mock frown and informed her (or rather hissed at her), "Oh well, no use for you then."

The cold metal of the blade was now pressed hard against her throat, so that if she moved she'd kill herself- same thing if she talked.

"Hey!" Hunter shouted upon entering the bathroom, "What'd she do this time?"

Tori's attacker turned her attention from her victim and tossed Hunter a flirty smile, "You are aware this is a girl's rest room?" 

"Very much so," Hunter nodded, hoping that the three of them were the only one's in there… if not, there'd be hell to pay. "Now, how about you put her down? If it's money your after…"

He trailed off, to give her the impression that he was _actually _going to pay her. _'As if,' _he thought smugly, only if he had to- which would be severely disappointing, after all, he _was _a ranger and paying for someone's life? Out of the question.

"Yes, it is," the attacker frowned in an attempt to appear innocent, "I'm poor and broke and need money to stay alive."

"Then return the out-of-date out fit," Tori said in a biting tone, "What are you? A huge Distillers-want to-be, or just a groupie?" 

Hunter glanced at her. There was something in the way she said, and in her expression that seemed to say this was the real Tori talking, not the one that had bounced into her head because of an explosion.

The Distillers groupie glared at her, pressing the knife harder against her flesh- not yet breaking through the skin, but close enough to that it hurt. 

But she had diverted her attention from Hunter. Mistake… He sent a blow at her head, and she wavered for a moment before turning to him looking a bit pissed off.

"It'll take more than that to take me down, pretty boy," she snarled, kicking him in the shins- missing her actual target.

Hunter shrugged, and hit her again, this time on her jawbone with enough force to break it. She seemed a little dizzy for a few moments, before she crumpled ungracefully to the tiled floor.

"I normally don't like hitting girls," Hunter commented, kicking her lightly in the arm to move her away from a stray piece of toilet paper that was clinging to one of the tiles near the place where her head was, "But the Distillers sort of sound like guys… so there _should _be an exception there."

Tori coughed suddenly, rubbing her throat. A dark shadow in her eyes representing the fact that she was lacking appreciation for being cornered. "Ridiculous…" she glanced up at him and slapped him hard across the face, "Jerk." With that she walked passed him.

"What'd you do that for?" Hunter demanded, grabbing her arm and spinning her to face him.

"Falses and lies."  
  


**~~*~~**

"Swirling, crawling… nothing real… all falling!" the doctor shouted. 

The nurse that had been his partner for many years pressed a finger to her lips, unable to figure out what had made the sanest guy alive go crazy. But they had all seen the room. He'd been shouting like mad, calling them to it.

As the team had tried to take the corpse away, the doctor had been shouting… trying to tell them she wasn't dead. That she was watching them, waiting for them to save her.

But she hadn't been breathing for the past hour.

**~~*~~**

**A/N: **Hah! I'm ending here so I can post this.

**Veronica: **Sorry for the confusion… it makes sense to me, but I'm the writer so its supposed to… I'll try to clear that up. Anything getting clearer now in this chapter?

**Golden Arrow: **Ecto plasm? Okay… yeah, she'll be gone soon, but she still has a purpose… And are you happy with the way the bathroom-attacker-person-thing turned out?

**Me: **Thanks ^-^

**Raven: **More thanks

**Surfgurl1: **Sorry, but this a Hunter/Tori pairing.

**CamFan: ***Shudders*… no killing Cam… okay, just once… but it's all fixed…?

**84 Reviews to continue! (More welcome)**


	8. Division VIII: Somewhere

Fooling Me 

**Chapter VIII: _Somewhere_**

By EclipseKlutz 

****

"What do you mean 'falses and lies'?" Hunter demanded, staring Tori in the eye. He didn't understand… she couldn't regain her memory that quick, could she? He'd been hoping he'd manage to enter Canada by the time that unwelcome event occurred. 

She narrowed her eyes in response and yanked her arm away. "I mean what I mean," she hissed as she walked past him once more, "Now let's leave."

He silently followed her, and was still contemplating her sudden mood swing when he set life to the engine… and still an hour later when they had covered a good deal of distance in silence, without even some caterwauling singer on the radio to drown out the mistrust and quiet that stayed about.

**~~*~~**

_{Nothing had seemed right for so long now. But they had only just figured out the reason why:_

_Her._

_If she hadn't done what she did, everything would've been in the right order and he wouldn't be standing outside the morgue doors about to classify yet another body of someone he knew._

_It was Shane this time, and Blake knew he should've foreseen this as there'd been so many signs to the Red Ranger's suicide; the downcast looks, the morbid thoughts, the bitching more than usual, the… the everything!_

_Taking a deep breath, he reluctantly threw open the doors and stepped inside. From here, now, there was nowhere else for him to go. And no one else for him to turn to for guidance, friendship, and security._

_Now he was alone, and he knew the reason why… so why not fix it?}_

**~~*~~**

"Wh-where are we?" Shane mumbled as he sat up, looking around at his and the other's surroundings.

_"Somewhere." _Kit's hollow voice echoed back in response. _"But you're always somewhere so that doesn't help much, now does it?"_

"Stop with the riddles, Kit," Dust ordered from where he was perched—hovering in midair. Shane gawked at him, trying to figure out how he did it when his thoughts were cut off by Kit's malicious giggle.

"But it's fun to toy with a mortal's mind… there's so many corridors, and if you prick and prod just a little even the nicest person can become the worst- or vice versa."

"Am I the only one who interpreted that as she's trying to make us crazy?" Dustin inquired as he slowly and shakily climbed to his feet.

"I can almost see you shrugging," Dust commented dryly to Kit as the ghost neglected to answer Dustin's question.

_"But you wouldn't see, now would you?" _her tone was now harsh, as though she'd been offended, "_You're just plain blind. But when nothing's real, there's nothing to see… unless you see what you believe."_

"What the hell is she talking about?" Shane inquired, looking perplexed at her latest rant.

"Careful Kit, this is why they stuck you in the mental ward," Dust said, ignoring Shane now as well.

_"_They _didn't stick me anywhere. It was all you! Put me in there and allow them to stick needles into my skin, mess with my mind… and no one cared for the pretty little faeries that floated through the sky," _Kit huffed, the atmosphere rippled somewhere near Dust and right next to Dustin- throwing the present-day version of the two off balance. "_But there's no ward to return to… Shane's dead… Ward's gone… and Blake's state is highly entertaining… of course, you know the fate of all the others."_

"What do you mean Shane's dead?" Dust demanded in response, loosing grip of the cool and collected tone he'd been using earlier.

_"Committed suicide a few days back,"_ Kit's voice replied casually, taunting him in a way. _"He was so distressed over your disappearance, Dust… Oh yeah, and if you really want to stay updated with the news, they found the bodies."_

"What's going on? When did I commit suicide?" Shane inquired, more confused then he had been earlier.

Once again ignoring Shane, Dust closed his eyes as though he was counting to ten in an attempt to regain control over his temper, "They found them, then? Do we have proof?"

_"There's no proof for the guilty party," _Kit stated, her voice coming off breezy as though they were discussing pleasant weather over tea, "_But if the innocent doesn't have proof either… you know he's dead. They won't be changing that."_

Dust opened his mouth to respond, only to be cut off by Dustin: "Kit, what's going on? _Please _tell us—you're acting like you're some sort of criminal!"

There was a long silence, only broken every now and then by faint noises from various places—noises that sounded vaguely like sobs. Finally the air before Dustin shimmered, revealing the transluctant spirit of Kit standing there, all dolled up in black.

"_Better yet, I'll show you,_" she whispered, stretching out her hand. 

Unsure of what else to do, Dustin gently grabbed it.

**~~*~~**

Tori sighed, trying to figure out what the heck had come over her to make her act that way towards Hunter, who was apparently her friend. Leaning her head back against the by-now sticky red seat of his car, she stated, "Thanks, by the way, for helping me out."

Hunter nodded awkwardly in response, "No problem… now, um, would you mind…?"

"Music?" Tori asked, cocking an eyebrow at the shortage of his vocabulary. "Sure."

Leaning forwards she pressed the on-button, and the usual noise filled the space in the car:

"_Blurring and stirring the truth and the lies_

_So I don't know what's real and what's not_

_Always confusing the thoughts in my head_

_So I can't trust myself anymore_

_I'm dying again…"_

This was what dimmed out the silence between them for the next half hour before Hunter pulled over near a group of stores and a mall. 

"You need clothes, car needs gas, and I need food," he explained in answer to the inquisitive glance she sent him.

Tori nodded in understanding, "You don't suppose I can get food too, do you?"

Hunter rolled his eyes in a miserable attempt to hide his amusement at this before replying with a hint of sarcasm, "Depends on how expensive the cloths are."

"I don't need any," Tori responded quickly. At the awkward look he gave her though she quickly covered, "Any _more _cloths. Jeans, a burnt t-shirt, and the hospital wristband-bracelet-thing are enough for me. That and the underwear and bra, and I may need a few pads--"

Hunter quickly covered his ears and turned away, "Okay, Tori, thank you for sharing. Cloths _and _food it is then."

Tori grinned smugly and followed him towards a nearby fast food restaurant with a smiling hamburger and hyperactive fries as it's advertisement and logo. 

The inside was just as cheerful as the plastic food standing outside the front door; a playground was constructed in the back, where giggling children played. Two mothers sat nearby, and seemed to be discussing the current state of their business, while in the opposite corner sat a group of teenagers who appeared to have just finished a food fight and were now laughing over an article in the newspaper.

"How can anyone be this happy?" Tori whispered as three toddlers dashed past them shouting "tag" over and over without actually tagging the child in question.

Hunter shrugged and set his money down on the gray service counter, "We're in a rural area, guess they don't have much to worry about here—yes, ma'am, you can help. We'd like two hamburgers… all the topics… one without mustard… two chocolate shakes, never mind, one orange juice—I mean orange _sundae_. Tori, they don't even have those here! Yeah, two orange shakes. Ack, see what you made me do? No, two hamburgers, one without mustard one with; and two chocolate shakes, thank you."

"That all, sir?" The lady behind the counter who'd been listening to his confusion with a thoroughly entertained expression inquired. 

"No," Tori intercepted, "He needs his brain too."

"Oh, so you're a 'sir' now? Yes, that'll be all, thank you."  
  


"This is none of my business, but are you two dating?" the lady inquired as she set the two hamburgers on a red tray and set it before them.

Hunter and Tori exchanged glances, filled in with an awkward silence before Hunter finally managed to answer, "No."

The lady turned away for a moment to go through the supplies needed for the shake and turned back to them with a slight frown, "I'm sorry, but there's only enough ice cream left for one shake. Would you like an orange juice as well?"

"Nah, I'll take the milk," Hunter told her. "Now why'd you ask if we were dating?"

The lady grinned and set the drinks down beside the boxes, "You really should try it. Have a nice day, next!"

And with that they were dismissed before either could make a comment on her absurd suggestion.

"That was… odd," Tori commented as they seated themselves at a booth positioned directly in front of a window overlooking the busy street nearby. 

"Yeah," Hunter agreed as he picked his carton of milk and his sandwich off the tray. "But I suppose things are bound to happen to your mind if you work in a place like this for too long."

"You're probably right," Tori responded, taking a sip of her shake. Glancing over at him and feeling a bit guilty he gave up his own shake she inquired, "You want some?"

Hunter shook his head, "Nope, I'm fine."

"You sure?" Tori pressed.

"No," Hunter replied after a moment's hesitation. 

She gave him a small smile and handed him the shake just as a red bouncy ball landed on the wood surface of their table. Or at least it looked like a bouncy ball until Tori picked it up our of curiosity and held it to the light shed from the window, then it appeared to be a round, scarlet gem of some kind.

"Recognize this?" She inquired of Hunter as she looked around for the ball's owner.

Taking a large sip of the shake and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand after, Hunter glanced at it and shook his head, "Nope; a kid probably picked it up from a touring magician."

"I did," a squeaky voice piped up.

The two turned to see a mousy boy standing there. His raven-black hair was scraggly, and partially covered his ears, which stuck out from the side of his head, his coffee brown eyes were wide, giving him a permanently paranoid expression, and his skin was naturally on the tan side.

"Really?" Tori inquired, handing him the ball back and snatching the shake with her other hand before Hunter had a chance to slurp down the rest, "What was your favorite act?"

The kid's eyes flashed red, and his squeaky voice seemed a good deal deeper as he responded coldly, "The part where I kill you."

**~~*~~**

**A/N: **Just uploading this now so I actually post something. Hope you like, and I'd like to get _at least _83 reviews please? So, REVIEW already, and suggestions/ideas are a very good thing!


	9. Division IX: Listen to the Rain

****

Fooling Me 

**Division IX: _Listen to the Rain_**

By EclipseKlutz 

**A/N: **This is my Easter present to all of you faithful reviewers, but be forewarned: temporary character death, and violence present in this chapter… 

**~~*~~**

The transparent surface beneath his feet seemed to split open, and the next thing he knew he was falling downwards in a spiraling darkness that didn't seem to have an ending anywhere nearby. His heart was pounding at an abnormally fast pace, his head became light leaving him with a giddy feeling, and he was dizzy… so shaky that he could hardly register the ironic fact that the only light anywhere near him was radiating from Kit.

And then it stopped. His feet hit ground, then buckled beneath his weight and he collapsed to all fours, using the palms of his hands to block his fall. As soon as Dustin's vision stopped swimming around, he tried to take in his surroundings despite the slightly faded color.

It was a playground of some sort, an old red building standing in the distance overlooking the blacktop; its windows cracked, its lights off, and one of the double doors leading inside ajar. A lone slide stood by a basketball net, the actual netting hanging to the side partially detached from the wire. A few swings stood nearby, the chains rusted to the point where Dustin doubted they'd be safe to use, but despite this two young girls sat on one of them—one dark-haired, the other with longer and locks a few shades lighter; neither was facing them, but Dustin got the sense that the two were discussing something they either weren't supposed to know, or a private secret.

Climbing to his feet and turning around to demand of Kit where they were, the question was on the tip of his tongue when he noted in pity that she looked a bit paler then normal if it was possible, and her eyes wide in either fear or shock. But still, curiosity killed the cat…

"What the heck is going on?" Dustin asked her after a moment.

Kit flinched slightly, "I was trying to show you what they were talking about, but messed up and went a bit too far down our walk of memory lane. Skipping forward takes a bit more work, so while I try to regain what ghostly powers I just lost, you get to watch some clips from my life. Honestly though, I'd prefer if you didn't…"

"Why?"

"It's not the 'once upon a time' story with a happy ending, and I don't want to be here… damn magick, always has its little drawbacks."

"Oh."

…Answers revived it.

He turned away from her in time to see a teenager with a football-player's build approach the girls from behind, his posture bent over menacingly, and Dustin was sure the evil glint in his eyes he'd seen in so many villains. A branch broke beneath his feet as he walked towards them, ruining his stealthy approach and the dark-haired girl screamed in terror, the screech cut off as the blonde one slapped her hand over the girl's mouth and whispered, "Sh."

Though unwilling to, the dark-haired girl silenced and stepped back, utter terror etched across her expression. The blonde one Dustin was beginning to see a bit of Kit in seemed to be mentally measuring the distance from where she stood to the woods surrounding the school, but panic was taking over her senses making it hard for her to focus on this.

Finally she gave up this effort and pointedly made eye contact with the teenager before her, as though trying to intimidate him into leaving. This attempt also failed as the football-player took another step forward, drawing a knife from his pocket. 

"I'll make this quick if you don't squeal," he snarled, as though this statement was supposed to be comforting. 

The younger version of Kit stared at him blankly for a moment as though she wasn't planning on things going the way he seemed to be hoping. Finally she stated simply, "No."

Behind him, Dustin heard Kit let out a small hiss and could practically hear her turn away from the scene playing out before them. Already torn between stepping in or not, though already knowing he couldn't change the past through someone's memories, he turned away as well and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

She clenched her eyes shut, trying to ignore him as she slowly counted down in a mere whisper, "Five… four… three… two… one."

Just as Kit uttered the "one" a scream of pain and fear of what was to come echoed behind them and Dustin tried to spin around to see what had happened—an action that was cut off as Kit hurled them back into the spiraling darkness they'd occupied in their last trip through her memories.

He had enough to time to contemplate over what might have happened though by the time his feet collided with the earth a second time, this time in a hotel…

**~~*~~**

"The part where I kill you."

To both, the words were a cliché; used by just about every single want-to-be bad guy that tried to take over the world or in the least annihilate them from existence. This, though, was small comfort.

"Okay," Hunter said casually after moments or two hesitation, "And who are you exactly? It's always nice to know the person who kills you."

Tori giggled slightly, having been about to say something along similar lines. But the child before the two didn't seem so amused.

"I am the destroyer, the bringer of the apocalypse, the one who has vowed to Lothor to bring the Power Rangers to their knees at any cost. I am Arjaunt," the child announced, his voice filled with pride and arrogance that seemed to be completely outranked.

"L-Lothor?" Tori repeated the name, glancing over at Hunter. Strange visions passed through her mind, battles all different waging between two teams as both fought for what they believed to the greater good… 

She was too focused on these images then the child before them who had seemed to double in size, and grow metallic armor across his flesh. His eyes pulsed dangerously in a red shade close enough to that of blood to be unnerving, and his thin mouth was twisted in a cruel smirk, revealing sharp rows of canines that also seemed to be constructed of some sort of metal. 

But Hunter noticed both the creature's transformation and the way Tori's eyes glazed over slightly—like they had been back in the restroom for a few brief seconds—as though in realization. As though she _knew_…

He didn't have time to mentally curse this problem though, as Arjaunt chose the soonest possible moment to lash out with metal fist, and to reveal the small spikes that stuck out from his knuckles. Hunter only narrowly dodged this, and thrust himself at Arjaunt as the creature threw a punch in Tori's direction, knocking it off balance and as an added bonus snapping the blue Wind Ranger back to reality.

She quickly climbed to her feet and kicked it dead in the stomach, but she was the one to stumble back and hop around for a few moments clutching her foot, "Okay, bad plan."

"A good one could help," Hunter pointed out dryly as Arjaunt tossed his fist at him once more, and it collided with his shoulder, the claw-like part tearing through his shirt and straight into his skin. 

Hunter grunted in pain, trying to turn away but failing miserably as Arjaunt swept downwards, slashing through his torso and stomach. Any further scrapes though were prevented as Tori jumped onto the creature's back in a desperate attempt to draw Arjaunt's attention from the Crimson Ranger. This idea worked a little too well.

Surprised, Arjaunt stumbled backwards, in the process loosing his footing and tumbling to the ground. On reflex, Tori leapt out of harms way just as he collided with the tiled floor of the once way too happy fast food diner filled with still oblivious bystanders.

Hastily making her way over to Hunter before Arjaunt could get back to his feet, she pulled one of his arms around her shoulders, slipped her own arm around his waist and allowed him to use her as support as the two exited the restaurant in a hurry.

"Where's the keys?" Tori demanded of the half-conscious Hunter as she shoved him into the passenger seat of his jeep. 

"Pocket," he told her after a moment of blunt confusion, then afterwards used the arm he could move without much pain to dig it out for her and drop it into the palm of her outstretched hand.

Slamming the door shut and climbing behind the wheel just as Arjaunt came stumbling out of the diner not very far behind them, she stuck the keys in their slot and set life to the engine; pushing the aged vehicle to it's limit. And with one fearful glance over her shoulder at the creature she pressed down hard on the gas pedal and sped to safety… wherever that may be.

**~~*~~**

He couldn't say he was ready for the collision this time, but it was a bit more graceful then his previous exit from this warp that put a new spin on the phrase 'a walk down memory lane'. 

Kit made every effort to prevent him from toppling over by grabbing his arm and supporting him with surprising strength for someone so frail.

"Pay attention," she hissed just as… _she _walked down the stairs of the hotel into the lobby, a black backpack he vaguely recognized from her arrival slung over her right shoulder.

This version of Kit seemed slightly afraid as she crossed through a long winding hallway and then up another set of stairs, whether it was from the fear of being recognized or something else Dustin was unsure.

They followed her to a broom closet on the second floor, where she seated herself on the ground and began to pull various mechanisms from her backpack. After what felt like hours she stuck the contraption she'd created in the closet and climbed shakily to her feet. 

That Kit left, but the one beside him closed her eyes and shook her head as though she regretted performing whatever it was she had just done. 

Suddenly the building shook as an explosion erupted from the closet, its fire quickly spreading down the halls. Screams of children and adults alike echoed around them, as people that had yet to be affected by the blast dashed towards the nearest exit trying desperately to save themselves.

Dustin watched the chaos and confusion in silence, safe from the harm these people were suffering as he tried to contemplate why Kit would do such a thing… then the answer showed itself.

Tori ran down the hall towards them, then right past them as she searched for the source of the explosion. She turned toward the broom closet just as another fiery blast erupted from it, engulfing her in its flames.

"TORI!" Dustin cried trying to run to his friend's aid, but Kit held him back.

"It's over, y-you can't change it," she told him somberly, glancing around at the fiery hell that surrounded them. "And it's not all…"

"What is this?" Dustin demanded, tears sliding down his face as he stared at the place where Tori had been standing just a moment earlier.

Kit flinched slightly at the hateful look filling his eyes, and looking away as to avoid his gaze she told him quietly, "It's the world Dust is from… it's the world he's trying to change." 

Grabbing her shoulders he asked her, his voice swimming with strong emotions of panic, pain, and remorse, "Have you already done this? Is she dead?"

"Yes… and… and I don't know," Kit answered honestly. "Oh, God, I'm so sorry…"

He closed his eyes, taking in deep shuddering breaths as he tried to take in the loss of Tori. After several cruelly drawn out minutes passed he stated, "You told me that's not all…"

"It's not but," She allowed her voice to trail off there, not willing to continue that phrase as it would most likely end up admitting all of her buried emotions.

"Then show me. I want to know."

Kit paused, her expression for the first time showing her true feelings on anything. And now it was pure pain… and regret. "Alright, but… but you don't have to."

"I want to," He told her simply, "Now show me."

She frowned, and they had returned to the tunnel once more. This time when they landed it was on the floor of the Ninja Opts computer room that Cam loved so much. 

The other version of Kit was already standing there, leaning against a wall humming a mourning tune to herself as she played cats cradle with a small portion of the long rope looped around her arm.

Cam walked in seconds after their own arrival, a cup of steaming tea clutched tightly in his right hand as he seated himself in front of his computer. Completely oblivious to Kit's presence, he began to type codes into it, trying to decode the scroll of Kit's that they'd finally found.

Bored of waiting for him to notice her, Kit approached quietly from behind, pulling a dagger from a sheath on her belt as she went. Holding it behind her back, she stationed herself behind him, staring at the screen of his computer.

Swallowing, almost as though she was surprised he had yet to notice her and because of that what she was about to do was worse, she glanced up at the ceiling and mouthed a few words. Then, in one swift moment she looped the rope around his torso, pinning the shocked computer genius to the chair. He glanced up at her just in time to watch her drag out the dagger and swipe it quickly across his neck.

"Sorry, cous," she mumbled as his body went limp. Just to make certain he wouldn't awake ever again, she shoved the blade into his throat, where it lodged itself in his air pipe, clogging it with blood that soon dribbled out of the corners of his mouth. 

Shoving the corpse out of the chair, she quickly assumed his position and scrolled over what potential damage he'd done.

Dustin turned away then, deciding he'd seen enough of this particular scene. But one question was tugging at his mind, one he wanted answered, "Why?"

"I… it's been so long I don't even know," Kit informed him, wiping at her face quickly before the tear was noticeable. "It looks even more brutal when you watch it…"

"I don't want to see the rest," Dustin stated after a moment of trying to decipher why she'd said that last part. "Tell me what happened."

Kit looked toward the floor before she listed it off, making a point of avoiding his eyes and the expressions they possessed, "After Tori's death, Hunter went on a rampage trying to find her murderer… trying to find _me_. He killed seven innocents, and then afterwards he killed himself. I tracked down Lothor with the help of my friends in that one chat room, and he… I won, but with a cost. Uncle, or Sensei, died at his hands. After that I went to you for help, but Shane had figured the whole thing out by then and tried to kill me… he almost did, hell I was going to let him, but you stopped him. Instead, you two had me sent to a mental hospital for the criminally insane. You visited all the time, finally one day I told you to come back and kill me. I refused to die at anyone else's hands, hell if I were alive I still would. You did it, you went back in time and you killed me, but I'd already placed the bomb. I was late though, an unscheduled traffic jam that didn't happen last time and there were no murders so Tori may still be alive… anyways, Shane committed suicide after you went back in time. Now Blake's after his revenge as well."

Dustin stared at her for a long minute, before he finally managed to inquire, no matter how cruel the question, "Why'd I help you?"

"The only good memory I have," she told him simply, tilting her head to the side as she thought over that. "Yeah… that's about right; if you want me to, I guess I can show you."

He didn't respond at first, and merely glanced at Cam's body sprawled out across the ground, "Did this happen too?"

Kit shook her head, "Not this time around."

"Then show me, I mean, why not?"

**~~*~~**

The motel room was cramped, but not so much that there wasn't enough room for two humans, their luggage, a twin bed and a padlocked door. 

Hunter resided on the bed, laying above the crisp gray blanket that covered it as Tori sat beside him with a set of antibiotics handy nearby, some of which she was applying carefully to the wounds across his chest and arms.  

"This may sting a bit," she informed him as she poured a few clear drops of liquid from a white bottle onto an old shirt she'd dug out of Hunter's bag.

"It's alright," He responded, the words coming out choked, as all the other medication she'd applied to his cuts and scrapes had stung a bit more then a little. 

She nodded, and dabbed it gently against the open tissue of his shoulder. As she drew back the improvised version of a cloth to add more of the fluid to it she inquired, "Where's Sensei?"

He glanced at her, his thoughts instantly jumbled and frantic. Did she know? How could she, this early on? If she knew… how long had she? Should he lie again? But something firmly told him no, a little voice piping up in the back of his head, but no matter how small it's opinion was valid.

"With Lothor."

Tori nodded, as though she didn't care much beyond that point. Unraveling some bandages she commanded, "You'll need to sit up for a moment."

Using his arms as support beam, and a bit of Tori's help, he managed with some pain to pull himself into a mock version of a sitting position. Tori didn't talk as she wound the bandages around his shoulder and torso, and only when she was done did she bring up the key question, "How long will we be running away from everything?"

And to that, he had no answer; whether lie or truth neither may fulfill their purpose. "I don't know."

She nodded, and pulling a few strands of blonde hair behind her ears Tori's next question was maybe a bit more of a statement, "And how long will we be lying to each other?"

**~~*~~**

**A/N: **I may be feeling a bit nice today, but not enough to continue. I'm aiming for 90 reviews now… think you guys can try that? *begging* Grounding may prevent updates for a little bit, but oh well…

**Veronica: **Aw… thanks, your review left me feeling all happy and stuff (the "you so rock" part mostly), inspiration to post this as quick as possible! 

**CamFan4Ever: **Don't kill me! It was one scene; other than that he's still alive, don't worry! 

**Monkay-Pooh: **Thanks!

**Golden Arrow: **_"__I did wanted to tell you that I think that the way the last few chapters have been a little confusing makes sense. It kind of shows just who confused the present day rangers are."_ Thank you! That's how I was trying to do it, and I thought I'd failed…  Thanks lots for proving I haven't…

Hope you all had a great Easter, now start reviewing! C'mon, can't be _that _hard to push a little button and type a few **good **words. ^-^ 


	10. Division X: Love is Blind

**Fooling Me**

**Division X: _Love is Blind_**

**By EclipseKlutz**

**A/N: **I'm so, so sorry this has taken so long. But things have been _incredibly _complicated recently, _and _I'm grounded so updates may take longer. Bleh… Anyways, looked through some of the fanfics, and this is the **first **Tori/Hunter fic! Okay, okay, you can start reading now…

* * *

_"__…Dance with me, it can't be so hard,_

_Time to reveal what's in your heart,_

_Desolation, grief and agony…"_

--Lacuna Coil: Daylight Dancer

* * *

_Unbroken waves slapped against the rocks, then drew back so another wave could take its place. Every now and again, the water would spray across the girl sitting upon the uneven surface of the rock but more often then not it retreated to break across the sandy shores of the beach._

_This though was not the girl's main concern as she sat there, staring at the horizon under which the moon was slowly, almost reluctantly retreating to. A strand of blonde hair tumbled over her shoulder as it freed itself from the confinements of her messy ponytail, drawing out several purple and blonde locks along with it._

_She ignored this, as well as the footsteps approaching her behind. The figure sat down beside her, stray brown strands of his hair falling across his eyes and shading them from view as he did so._

_"Kit?" he asked, after a few minutes of hesitation and contemplation._

_She didn't acknowledge his greeting either, and merely stared out at the waves coming their way._

_He took a breath, looking downwards at his feet, which were dangling over the sides of the rock, "I'm sorry about what… what he said to you, but I forgive you."_

_"No you don't," she whispered after a moment, though still not facing him. "You've no reason to."_

_"But he was wrong to accuse you like that," he protested._

_"No, he wasn't."_

_He stared at her for a moment, his eyes watching her carefully. There was something wrong about the dazed expression etched into her face, the way she sat there, and the fact that for the first time in a month she didn't seem to be even partially willing to talk to him. And then he realized why._

_Grabbing her hand, which had been resting on her lap, he turned it over to confirm his suspicions. There was a long, deep slash across her wrist that beads of blood were rapidly crawling from._

_"Kit, you're bleeding," he stated, tearing off a strip from the sleeve of his shirt and wrapping it around her wrist before reaching for her other hand._

_She glanced over at him, but her pained expression made it obvious the action took a good deal of effort, "I suppose I am…"_

"Dust," Shane said yet again, this time a bit louder as he was getting aggravated by the lack of progress he had in waking the future version of his best friend.

The ranger in question jumped, startled awake at the sound of his voice. Bloodshot eyes met Shane's irritated ones as the red ranger slapped him across the face, not noticing he was awake until after the fact.

Rubbing his cheek, Dust sat up, glowering at the ranger, "And I have deserved that since when…?"

"Since I've been bored out of my mind, not to mention worried… if what you said is true then Dustin may not be coming back at all," Shane replied looking away and around the vast space of nothingness as though hoping something had changed.

"_If_? What I told you, it's real and that's a fact," Dust informed him as he pulled himself into something that just barely passed as a sitting position. "The problem is that you don't want to believe me. _You _don't believe it happened 'cause that just might burst the happy little bubble you surrounded yourself with by convincing your gullible mind that you and your friends are immortal—and that's what got Cam killed."

Shane stared at him for a moment, his vacant expression hiding the guilt that flowed beneath. It'd been so painful for him to hear the recounts of all their deaths, to know that they hadn't gotten to Tori in time to save her and that in trying to avenge her death, Hunter murdered seven innocents; to know that he made the decision to leave Cam alone in Ninja Opts, something that had ultimately gotten Cam murdered… That thought train stopped as he realized something he'd skipped over before.

Tossing Dust an odd look, Shane inquired pointedly, "You never told me who set up the bomb in the hotel."

"That's because I don't know," Dust replied bitterly, meeting Shane's eyes as he did so—neither of them flinched.

Shane shoved him backwards, thoroughly angered that Dust dare be so bold as to lie to his face, "You know, so why don't you damn tell me? Was it _me_? That'd explain why you resent me so much—or maybe it was Cam, maybe that was-"

He was cut off as Dust slapped him hard upside the face, "You shut the hell up."

"WHY?!" Shane cried back, "I just found out that in your warped future, everyone is dead—and so am I! Just tell me who set the freaking bomb already! You know who did it, we _both _know that!"

Dust shook his head somberly, "I know, sure. But I promised I wouldn't tell—it was the only requirement to killing her… that I didn't mention who set off the bomb."

"Was it me?"

"Possibly."

"Was it Kit?"

"Possibly."

"Are you going to give me any other answers?"

"Not if you keep asking the wrong questions," Dust returned with a frown.

An exasperated groan escaped Shane's throat. "How do we know she'll bring Dustin back alive?"

Dust looked at him with hesitation, sighed, and looked away, tilting his head to the side as he stared off at a distant space. Fingering a silver chain around his neck, he finally answered, "Because I love her."

* * *

Hunter stared at her in disbelief; his eyes wide and mouth hanging slightly open as he managed to choke out, "Wh-_what _did you say?"

She gently moved his elbow so she could finish strapping up his bandages, keeping her face strictly unreadable. Tori busied her fingers fastening safety pins through the bandages, watching her own quick movements carefully as though to watch for mistakes… and to keep herself from looking at him.

It was odd. She wanted to repeat what she'd said, wanted to scream it and throw something—anything—at him, wanted to tell him that she _knew_. But then she couldn't—it wouldn't be safe, it could endanger her situation. But hadn't she already gone too far?

Tori inhaled sharply and without looking at him stated quietly, "You heard me."

Instantly she felt him tense beneath her touch, felt his eyes watching her warily; she could almost hear the gears in his brain turning as he tried to decide what to do now. Again, everything lapsed into silence.

But she didn't mind it. Somehow, even after she'd said what she said, even now that he was judging what to do with her, she felt oddly safe in the motel room. Even with the incredibly dim lighting, and the mass amounts of needles beside her, she was strangely at peace. The prospect seemed weird even to her.

As she struggled to piece together her own jumbled emotions, Hunter broke the silence with caution edging every bit of his voice, "How long have you known?"

It took all of her self-control not to slap him right there. Instead she finally tilted her head just enough to look him in the eyes. "I'm not sure… Some of it came at that gas station… a little more at the restaurant… Why'd you lie? At the hospital… why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He sighed, realizing that she just needed to hear it. "You know what, the way it looks is vain. I get it. But what you're thinking isn't it. I didn't just lie to get you to come without a fuss—truth is Tori, you saved my life. I don't know why, but you did, and how do you tell someone who saved you that you've kidnapped them and plan on using them to tear apart their friends? Really, how?"

Tori nodded, accepting it as she placed spare pins into the first aid kit and shut the lid. Sinking down to the bed beside him she said, "So you didn't, and that seemed alright?"

Hunter frowned, "I don't know what it seemed. But… You know what: I'm sorry. There. Satisfied?"

She allowed a small laugh to escape her throat, "I wasn't looking for an apology, _and _you didn't mean it."

"Well… it has been nice not tying you up everywhere we go, and I am starting to get fond of that Evanescence group," Hunter admitted, laughing slightly also.

Silence took over them once again as light, pointless laughter died down, only to be replaced by the sounds of their breathing. Outside, only a handful of cars drove by the motel, and all threats of Arjaunt seemed to evaporate as they stared at each other.

"Um… Tori?"

"Uh-huh."

"If I completely humiliate myself will you let me live it down?"

"Depends."

Hunter exhaled nervously and leaned over, then without much hesitation pressed his mouth to hers. He'd been wanting to kiss her since the events of the restaurant, but why then of all times? He didn't know, and probably never would.

She was stunned, if anything. Of the thousands of things with possible humiliating outcomes he'd chosen _that _one. Apparently he didn't know what had happened to the last guy who'd tried to kiss her, but then…

He pulled away, sensing her shock. But before she could manage a reaction, the door splintered and collapsed into millions of wooden shards, and in stepped a modern-day gladiator, Arjaunt.

* * *

The travel through the dreaded tunnel wasn't so terrible this time, he was slowly becoming accustomed to the queasiness and actually managed to _almost _land on his feet when they were dropped off.

Snow covered everything as far as he could see, the pavement was thick with ice, and red and green lights were strung across the trees and between light poles. A few people were out walking or watching the sunrise; a man stood on the street corner nearby with a bell and charity box, joyfully saying to all who passed him, "Merry Christmas!"

Dustin turned to Kit, and found her smiling slightly, watching a couple walk down the sidewalk towards them. He looked them over and realized instantly who they were: them.

He had one arm slung over Kit's shoulder, and a bag of random toys his cousin had grown out of under the other. Kit was opening a package; careful not to tear the paper up too much as she did so. A box lay underneath all the packaging. She tore it open with much less care and pulled out another box.

"Are you trying to confuse me?" She inquired, playfully hitting him in the shoulder before opening up the box. This time, she pulled out a blue velvet case, with rich gold embroidery along the edge bearing her name.

Kit inspected it for a moment or so, turned it over, stared at the embroidery as though the elegance of the case was enough to satisfy her.

The Dustin he was watching rolled his eyes, saying lightly, "Would you open it already? I bought more then a little case."

"Really?" She returned sarcastically, yet smiled and opened the case. Her eyes widened as she saw what lie inside. "You didn't…"

"Yeah, well… you were kind of drooling when you saw that at the store, so, Merry Christmas," He responded, grinning. "Here, let me help you put it on."

She carefully lifted the elegant silver necklace from the box and twisted her hair over the shoulder. After a few seconds of fumbling with the clasp, he gently pulled her hair back and announced, "There you go."

Kit's smile widened as she grabbed him and nearly suffocated him in a bone-crushing hug. As she finally relaxed her grip, he leaned over and kissed her gently. She kissed him back, slightly harder, before moving her head to his shoulder and hugging him again.

"Thanks," she whispered. "You know that's the first Christmas present I've ever gotten?"

"Well, Ms. Scrooge, you're living with the 'Rangers, expect more when we get back," he responded, and slipping his arm around her waist they continued on their way.

Dustin watched it all in silence before turning back to spirit-Kit who apparently had been busying herself making snow angels. Offering his hand, he watched the couple leave in obvious interest.

As he helped her to her feet, he inquired awkwardly, "So you and I are… were… will be… whatever, a couple?"

She avoided his eyes and changed the topic all together, "I'm going to miss the winter, and Christmas… I love snow."

"Uh-huh… so what happened to the necklace?"

Kit stared at him, long and hard, before she answered in an oddly calm voice, "You have it."

* * *

Shane half-choked on his own saliva as Dust said his words. It took him a moment to regain enough composure to stutter out, "You… you what? _Her_? Why?"

Offering Shane a simple, small smile, Dust tucked the silver chain under the collar of his shirt and said quietly, "Love is blind."

And he'd say nothing more until Kit and Dustin returned.

* * *

**A/N: **There you go… And Merry Christmas to all of you in case I don't get to update for a while! 


End file.
